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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27550390">The Presumption that Once, Our Eyes Watered</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darth_Mulcibre/pseuds/Darth_Mulcibre'>Darth_Mulcibre</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Jedi Purge (Star Wars), Jedi Temple (Star Wars), Jedi Training (Star Wars), Knightfall, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Order 66</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:06:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>77,557</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27550390</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darth_Mulcibre/pseuds/Darth_Mulcibre</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the closing months of the Clone War, one more small player enters the orbit of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Many things change. </p><p>An alternate telling of Knightfall, the Jedi Purge, and the Galactic Civil War.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Master Oppo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Some shout-outs! The authors on this list have been a huge inspiration to how I imagine these characters, and motivated me to make a contribution of my own.<br/>Tulak_Hord<br/>Shadowsong26<br/>Bittodeath<br/>YoungestThunderbird</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The first few chapters for this fic will be setting the scene, altering some events, etc. For now, there's someone for y'all to meet!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>15 Months before Knightfall</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>           It was rare to be warm on a Venator, and rarer still if that Venator was traveling in hyperspace. The void had a way of chilling men even if they could not see it, and for all that living on a Republic destroyer was often cramped and uncomfortable, it somehow managed to suck out the heat that came from living among brothers and in the vigor of war. But duelling would make a body warm anywhere, even in a hangar bay surrounded by starfighters and cheering troops.</p><p>           Jaster held his block high, and let Master Oppo skim off it—as he’d wanted to, no doubt. He turned in riposte and Master Oppo faded back, pressed one of his strong hands to the floor and twisted his blade over his back. Jaster parried, hard this time, and Master Oppo took it in stride. He swung his tail to launch Jaster across the duelling ring.</p><p>           Jaster rolled with the impact until it brought him to his feet. He leapt, blade pulled back beside him like a javelin, targeting Master Oppo’s exposed center-body. Master Oppo saw it coming, and locked with his blade.</p><p>           “You announce yourself at the door,” Master Oppo said, so only they could hear. His voice was a dove’s coo and a night owl’s hoot, both at once. “You leave me too much.”</p><p>           Jaster fell back into a defensive posture and acquiesced. Master Oppo responded in kind. He let loose with slashes and pinwheels of a wildness few others could conjure. Jaster outdistanced what he could and let his blade deal with the rest, and just the sight of Master Oppo in his fullest form lit the watching clones afire. They screamed their support and Jaster felt the hum of amusement from Master Oppo as he reared up and continued the show. It was good for morale, both of them knew, for the men to be reminded that their leaders were capable and mighty.</p><p>           Eventually, Jaster felt Master Oppo’s bond turn a bit to impatience. Jaster understood why. He continued a retreat from the onslaught of the First Form, Master Oppo’s favorite and most preferred. Master Oppo expected that he would eventually see his opening and counter, shifting them both into the Second. Makashi was a new art to Jaster, not yet fully known to him, but it was similar enough to his Shien that he could make do. Jaster acquiesced, and stepped into the shade of Master Oppo’s frame. He switched off his saber, then planted it against Master Oppo’s chest, halting him.</p><p>           The men roared with appreciation. Master Oppo chuckled. He winked to Jaster. A subtle flick of his fingers, and Jaster’s blade was gone, along with the rest of him.</p><p>           Jaster recovered his fall and the two combatants raised their blades. Makashi was the common form between them, taught to Master Oppo long ago to compensate for the availability of targets in his frame, taught to Jaster as an extension of the fifth form. <em>Shien,</em> Master Oppo had said, <em>and Makashi are extensions of each other. My contemporaries will tell you a blaster is uncivilized, and they are correct, but a Jedi can utilize the same point-defense and parry against a bolt that they can against a blade. You have learned Makashi’s simple parts, through Shien, except that you assume an opponent fences with you from meters away. </em></p><p>           Now, Master Oppo and Jaster were not meters away at all. They each fought one-handed, their fight much more calculated but far faster as well. The clones leaned forward and were drawn in by the shimmer of their blades against each other, emerald on emerald, too quick to pick out where one ended and the other began. Master Oppo was taking it easy, Jaster knew. But Master Oppo was two-hundred years old, an esteemed Jedi Councillor, and it was natural that he might take it easy against a Jedi Padawan of only twenty standard.</p><p>           They probed each other through the Force, Master Oppo walled off in a way that he rarely was within their bond. Usually, Master Oppo left himself open to Jaster—he had nothing to hide, he had said, and Jaster was in his care so he might learn. But now, Master Oppo was inscrutable. Jaster had not an instant’s forewarning before he was disarmed, and held at the end of Master Oppo’s blade.</p><p>           Awareness of each other rushed back in, and it expanded to the clones, who now chanted for their General and applauded together. Jaster’s chest heaved, and so did Master Oppo’s. Jaster took small comfort that he could at least cause that much damage.</p><p>           “Your footwork continues to improve,” Master Oppo said. “Your wrists have strengthened greatly, on our last campaign.”</p><p>           They had, indeed. Leading a small force of ARC troopers, Jaster had grown experienced on the sheer cliff faces that abounded on their most recent planetary conquest. His grip, now, was a part of himself he trusted.</p><p>           “Thank you, Master,” he said, and Master Oppo flooded their bond with the warmth and acceptance Jaster knew he needed. To hear Master Oppo tell it, his own Master had ensured that he’d understood the wealth of love a Jedi Master had for their Padawan, and he believed it was something from which Jaster still deserved to benefit—even if he wasn’t still the little Falleen boy of thirteen who could fall asleep in the tail-chair Master Oppo somehow contorted himself into making on his long paperwork nights in the Temple.</p><p>           “Sirs!” This was Captain Hound, who like all his men wore the burgundy adornments of Master Oppo’s 362<sup>nd</sup> Legion. Jaster turned with a wide smile, and they took each other in greeting with a quick grip of each other’s bracers, as they had taken to doing not too long ago. “I could almost hear the men from the bridge.”</p><p>           “My Padawan has been taking me to task,” said Master Oppo. “Soon, not even Master Yoda will be able to stand against him.”</p><p>           Jaster snorted. Master Oppo glanced down at him and they shared a chuckle in the Force. “If you ever see me with the General’s saber, and my own, know that I beat him to get it.”</p><p>           “Noted, Commander,” Hound said, and behind his helmet Jaster knew he was smiling too. “General, there’s a transmission from the Council.”</p><p>           “I had hoped we might meet today,” said Master Oppo. He looked to Jaster. “Will you be observing today?”</p><p>           “If I could.”</p><p>           Master Oppo nodded, and the three of them began the slow walk to the bridge. Master Oppo required a bit more time getting to places, assuming he wasn’t throwing himself forward into a full-bodied Thisspissian sprint, but Jaster liked it. It felt distinguished, he and Hound had once agreed, as if they could force the Galaxy to slow itself down until they decided their own time. It was so rare to feel like that since the war, even as a Jedi.</p><p>           As they went, they caught salutes from Winch and Cable fixing up a Y-wing. Jaster overheard a series of jokes about Devaronians from Soundoff and his friends, and they paused briefly to comment on the work of Thresh, Quill, and their new pet shiny, Stink, who together had managed to rig a grease slide in one of the sloped hallways for the men. Master Oppo didn’t mind; his rule was that so long as the troops’ morale-boosters could be packed away and full battle stations manned in under five minutes, nearly anything was permissible. And Quill, ever the planner, had made sure that a full tub of antigrease solution was on hand and the adjoining hallways were clear. Master Oppo had nothing to worry about.</p><p>           They reached the bridge and Holt, their resident ARC trooper, saluted as they entered. He and Hound excused themselves from the comms room, and Jaster waved the doors shut with the Force. He stepped out to ensure he was fully out of the frame, and watched as the Jedi Council filled the room.</p><p>           There weren’t many, today. Master Yoda was there, of course, and a haggard-looking Master Windu. Masters Mundi and Ti were in via holo, as usual, and Master Kenobi was slouched near the back. Master Kcaj was present, ostensibly, but…well, what did that matter? Nobody but Master Yoda knew why he was there, anyway, the man never said a word. But adding Master Oppo, that only made seven. Master Billaba’s temporary replacement was out on campaign—so, Jaster assumed, were the others.</p><p>           “I call this meeting to order,” said Master Windu. “I apologize for not giving proper warning to our members elsewhere, the Senate demanded my attention.” That explained why he looked so exhausted, Jaster thought.</p><p>           Master Mundi leaned forward. “What is the word from the Chancellor?”</p><p>           “Nothing we didn’t know already. Most battlegrounds are shifting strongly in one side’s favor or the other, but distributed so that as a whole, the Galaxy seems to have entered a deadlock. We lack the forces to begin a decisive offensive that would turn the tide.”</p><p>           It was Master Kenobi’s turn to talk, and Force, he sounded even more tired than Windu. “The casualties since our last meeting number two Masters, eighteen Knights, five Padawans, and Initiate Somwe of the Varactyl Clan. She was accompanying Knight Caxilles, to see if they might be a good fit for apprenticeship.”</p><p>           The Masters bowed their heads for a moment. Even in the depth of the war, that stung.</p><p>           “See to the young Knight’s care, we must,” said Master Yoda. “Meditate with him, I will, when he returns to Coruscant.”</p><p>           Master Windu leaned forward. “We must move on, unfortunately, to discuss Dooku’s machinations in the Outer Rim.”</p><p>           Master Ti spoke. “Last I heard, he was nearing my sector. Do we anticipate another attack on Kamino?”</p><p>           “That intelligence is outdated. We’re now tracking him much closer to Sullust.”</p><p>           Master Kenobi shifted in his seat. “That poses a great risk. The Sullustan front is bending already, we cannot afford for it to be broken entirely.”</p><p>           “We agree. If we can win it back, and SoroSuub along with it, we will take back the ship production advantage we never should have lost.”</p><p>           Master Oppo lifted a finger. “If I may,” he said. “My fleet is set to arrive in a nearby sector. The campaign we are assigned to launch is important, yes, but Sullust would be vital in its strategic value. We can divert course.”</p><p>           Master Ti nodded. “If Dooku’s forces are massing there, it is likely he has matching priorities.”</p><p>           “We do not need a true victory on Sullust, at this hour,” said Master Oppo. “If I can produce it, that would be ideal, of course. But its underground terrain is suitable theater to create a stalemate, which the Republic has the resources and men to maintain. I am inclined to believe that the Separatists do not.”</p><p>           Master Windu considered. “To play that game with Dooku would be dangerous. It risks a mutual escalation that would sap our ability to win elsewhere.”</p><p>           “Perhaps. But then, perhaps the armies can give up a planet or concentrate heavily on another to break through, and then send those ships as a reinforcement.””</p><p>           Master Yoda’s ears perked up. “Isolate Dooku’s forces on Sullust, we could. A great loss, that would be, to him.”</p><p>           Master Kenobi seemed more awake now. “Is there a chance Dooku himself could be pinned down there?”</p><p>           “He will not wait long enough on any world for us to intercept him,” said Master Windu. “That won’t change now, even for Sullust.”</p><p>           “Five million droids or more,” said Master Oppo, “Would be a great reward of its own. And beyond that their ships, their resources, and the capabilities of Sullust within our control once again.”</p><p>           Master Windu nodded, more emphatically this time. “Then you must not wait. Direct course to Sullust, and we will be in contact shortly, to see what reinforcements we can send.”</p><p>           Master Oppo flicked a switch, and the holo disappeared. The old General took a long moment to gather himself, and then looked over to Jaster, with a light dancing just behind his eyes.</p><p>           “Oh, this will be an interesting needle to thread,” said Master Oppo. Jaster felt the weight of his lightsaber on his hip, as he agreed.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Campaigning on Sullust was not easy, by any means, but it was interesting. For both Master Oppo and Jaster, that was an even better situation. The surface was off-limits to both sides, with a corrosive, toxic lower atmosphere that melted clone skin and droid hardware alike. This presented a fascinating pair of battle spaces: the upper atmosphere, which was breathable and did not cause damage to either side, and the Sullustan underground. A vast network of caverns and tunnels through the entire planet, the underground supported Sullust’s entire population of over two billion. Master Oppo believed, rightly, that the more important conflict would happen there, which left he and Jaster to engage in what they agreed was the most captivating sort of tactics—extended corridor warfare.</p><p>           Much like the Geonosis underbelly or the stations at Ringo Vinda and Kuat, the Sullustan campaign went from hallway to cavern to hallway to cavern. When they had arrived and taken over from the Knight leading operations, they were encouraged to see the droid forces retreating back with no end in sight. For the first day, Jaster and Hound had been entrusted with the most important pathway, and cut a swathe twenty miles long into the heart of the droid resistance. Master Oppo had been so encouraged that he had moved his forward base to their location, which he intended to use as the tip of a lance that would thrust the fifty remaining miles to SoroSuub headquarters.</p><p>           Now, though, at the end of the second day, the problems began to come into focus. The Separatists hadn’t been running, they had retreated to well-fortified positions with massive omnidirectional gun emplacements that provided a truly difficult field-of-fire issue. Holt, in his typical fashion, had suggested blowing up the caverns themselves. He had received approval. But this was a long process of boring through already-unstable sections of the remaining planetary core, and it was unlikely to produce results.</p><p>           Once the clones were dug in along their new fortifications, Jaster had returned to the base with Master Oppo, and they and Hound had spent the majority of the day puzzling through options. But as the hours stretched on, few resolutions had appeared, and the men’s alertness dwindled until only the three of them remained.</p><p>           “South Tunnel Three is reporting a small decrease in the droid forces,” said Hound. “Would it be worth pushing there?”</p><p>           “A temporary situation at best, and a trap at worst,” said Master Oppo. “It is not worth-“</p><p>           One of their comms beeped, the one that corresponded to the left flank’s most important point. Jaster answered. “Go ahead for command.”</p><p>           “Sir! The droids have begun a push to our point.” It was Valkie, one of Hound’s lieutenants. “We’ve got the men to hold them off, but we won’t be able to support.”</p><p>           Master Oppo frowned, and on cue, other comms started going off. He snatched the comm from Jaster. “This is the General,” he said. “Hold your position. We will send up troops from the reserves. And tell your brothers in the other tunnels to hold their ground as well.”</p><p>           Master Oppo switched the comm off. “We are dug in, yes?”</p><p>           “Yes, sir.”</p><p>           “I do not think this is meant to break us. Only to test our resolve.”</p><p>           “I agree, sir.”</p><p>           Jaster looked down for a moment. He felt a stirring in the Force, somewhere close. “Master, something else is wrong.”</p><p>           “What do you feel?”</p><p>           “There’s pain from our men, where there shouldn’t be. Close by.”</p><p>           The comm beeped again, and this time it was a voice they didn’t recognize. “Commando droids! Closing on the command center!”</p><p>           “Go,” said Master Oppo, and they both nodded. It was bold, to attempt a sneak attack on the Republic leadership so early, but not unreasonable from the Separatists. Jaster and Hound sprinted out, and called for what men they could see to come and support.</p><p> </p><p>           Master Oppo sat in the quiet, for a moment, once they were gone. He could feel his face becoming more sullen, at the prospect of a drawn-out stalemate here; he could not bear to break Jaster’s high spirit, but he had seen enough of these to know that it was not worth enjoying.</p><p>           He extended his awareness across the planet, wound it through each of the tunnels. Each of his men lit up like candles in his mind, too many to count, and though he didn’t experience it viscerally, he could feel their fatigue and pain from yet another campaign in such short succession. He sent what warmth he could through the Force, and though he knew none of them would notice it, their minds would sharpen and their bellies might not feel so empty.</p><p>           The incursion was odd. So well-timed with an attack on the flank, yes, but commando droids? In a number small enough to sneak past their defenses? The Separatists had to know that there was enough here to repel them.</p><p>           The Force screamed danger.</p><p>           Master Oppo whipped around and drew his blade, in the same instant that a snap-hiss signaled the ignition of another. It was red, and Master Oppo barely moved quick enough to swipe it out of the way. Another ignited, and came straight for his heart, but he reached out with his weak hands and they were enough to grapple it away.</p><p>           The figure before him raised its head, in the light of twin crimson lightsabers. He recognized Ventress, and scowled. “You have taken too many of my brothers and sisters, child.”</p><p>           “High Councillor,” she said. Scorn dripped from her voice. “How does one so wise in strategy leave himself so exposed?”</p><p>           “The Force protects me.”</p><p>           Ventress tilted her head, to the sound of battle drawing closer. “Will it protect your men?”</p><p>           Master Oppo just lowered his head. “You have made a terrible mistake in coming here.”</p><p>           She leapt in and engaged him. Her bladework was wild, and Master Oppo more than most could appreciate the benefit in that. But it lacked intentionality, direction, it was not so much that the assassin harnessed wildness as that it harnessed her. Even still, she was powerful and skilled, and Master Oppo recognized Dooku’s influence. The man had always gotten the better of him in their shared Temple days, and his assassin was not far behind.</p><p>           Master Oppo doubled his efforts, working in the Force and grapples from his free hands and heavy swipes with his tail. The assassin showed on her face that it was a challenge, but to her merit, she did not give in or fade away.</p><p>           The noise outside had drawn closer, and now Master Oppo could clearly hear the sounds of droids and clones fighting in the open. Jaster’s lightsaber hummed, and he cheered encouragement to his men. He always did that when he thought they would win.</p><p>           Ventress narrowly avoided a downward cleave from the entirety of Master Oppo’s body, and she snarled at him. He reached out with the Force to probe at her shields. “Your Lord told you to come and attempt this,” he said, denying her the grace of having posed it as a question. “He means to send you to your death, then.”</p><p>           “He means to test me. I will prevail.”</p><p>           She re-engaged him, and again to her merit, her power and shields in the Force were truly prodigious. Master Oppo knew it would be worthless to try and disorient her through Malacia, or use any of his other, dirtier tricks, as those were all things she could repel. She would have made a fine Jedi, if only Narec had not failed her.</p><p>           Master Oppo stopped in his tracks, as a burst of pain came from near the end of his tail. With the assassin in front of him, he whipped his body around, and he understood when he saw one of the commando droids. It had snuck past Jaster and the clones, and plunged its blade into him, and before Master Oppo could stop it, he did it again.</p><p>           Master Oppo flicked his tail and the droid flew clear out of the command tent, bit he was hurt and Ventress knew it. She locked blades again, and kicked him in his torso, and when he flagged, the assassin reached out in the Force and plunged the droid’s sword into his tail yet again. Master Oppo grunted, and the assassin’s offhand blade spun up, and sliced one of Master Oppo’s weak hands clean off at the elbow. He couldn’t help but yell, at that, but kept fighting as best he could.</p><p>           He felt Jaster prodding at their bond, only just now noticing his pain, but Master Oppo walled it off. Better that Jaster did not put himself at risk.</p><p>           Master Oppo flowed fully into Makashi now, unable as he was to utilize his tail or his second set of arms. His form was still capable, perhaps better than the assassin’s, but he felt his body start to fail him. The pain and fatigue and his age were simply becoming too much.</p><p>           Ventress sensed it, and reached out with a powerful Force blast that sent Oppo rolling across the floor. And, with a degree of sadistic glee Oppo hadn’t known she possessed, the assassin reached out for the droid’s sword yet again. It entered him twice more before he could deal with it.</p><p>           And then she was on him, leaping onto his chest and relishing as his muscles gave out. Her weight pinned his top shoulders to the floor.</p><p>           He could only watch as she ended him.</p><p> </p><p>           Jaster felt it immediately, the strain and fatigue from Master Oppo giving way to a howling sense of pain and loss. He cut down a droid in front of him, one of the last, and whipped his head around to the command tent. The Force screamed inside him, and he could hardly see straight. On the other side of the tent, there was blasterfire, and screams, and the sound of lightsabers, and Jaster sprinted down the side of it without going in.</p><p>           Dooku’s assassin Ventress, a being he’d only seen in briefings and Republic Wanted posters, carved a path through his men. Her battle-skirt was bloodied, but she was unharmed, and Jaster knew without knowing what that meant. He struggled to see through the Force-haze clearly enough to time his jump, and he leapt through the air, blade raised to cut her down.</p><p>           She lifted a hand, and launched him straight into the cave wall hard enough to crack it around his body. She cackled, but quickly regained her seriousness as Hound and three dozen clones rounded on her. She disappeared down a side tunnel, and there was nothing Jaster could do to stop her.</p><p>           He fell to the ground, and staggered to his feet, tears coming to his eyes even before he entered. Master Oppo lay there, already gone, in a bloody mess of himself with his body in one place and his head another.</p><p>           Jaster ran to him. He searched Master Oppo’s body for any trace of life in the Force, but there was nothing at all. He gathered up his Master’s robes in his arms, and for a moment he was paralyzed, breathless. The Force was loud enough inside his head that he was sure the entire planet must have heard it, and he did not care.</p><p>           Then he felt hands on his shoulders, and he remembered the men. He came back for them, just a bit, to Hound and Thresh and Quill there helping him to his feet. They had helmets off, and they were just as shattered, but somehow their faces had a way of hiding it better. They all stood there reeling, for a long moment, as the cave around them returned to quiet.</p><p>           Jaster stepped forward, numb, and went to the command station. He pulled up the long-range comms, and entered Master Oppo’s emergency code, the one he’d been told never to use. Master Windu answered immediately, and Master Kenobi was with him.</p><p>           “Padawan,” Master Windu said. “What’s happened? Why are you on Master Oppo’s frequency?”</p><p>           Master Kenobi was more perceptive. “Padawan Vigil, isn’t it? Jaster? Are you safe?”</p><p>           Jaster nodded.</p><p>           “Is Oppo-“</p><p>           “He’s dead. Ventress killed him.”</p><p>           Master Windu looked devastated. Somehow Master Kenobi’s face didn’t even twitch.</p><p>           “She’s gone now,” Jaster said. “The clones chased her off.”</p><p>           “Padawan, may we see him?”</p><p>           Jaster took the holo-caster from the command station and pointed it at Master Oppo. Now, Master Kenobi showed a hint of his shock, if only just a hint. Master Windu closed his eyes.</p><p>           “Then it is as I feared. Master Rancisis, too, has become one with the Force.”</p><p>           “Masters, I don’t know what to do,” said Jaster. “Ventress is here, and with Master Oppo’s battle influence gone—his leadership gone—”</p><p>           “We understand, Padawan Vigil,” Master Windu said. He turned. “Obi-Wan. Take Anakin and your fleet and go to intercept Ventress. The Sullustan front is lost for now, but we can at least take advantage of the chaos to try and apprehend her.”</p><p>           Master Kenobi nodded, and he left the frame of the holo.</p><p>           Master Windu looked past Jaster, to where he couldn’t see Master Oppo anymore but knew he was. He didn’t speak for a long moment.</p><p>           “Master?”</p><p>           “I’m sorry, Padawan.” He paused. “I am sorry. I didn’t lie to Master Kenobi, the battle on Sullust is lost. We will handle the extraction of your men. Just bring Master Oppo home.”</p><p>           Jaster nodded, and switched off the holo without another word.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           It was customary for members of the Jedi Order to be cremated upon death, so that their physical bodies might be aided in a return to the stars. Their bodies were crude matter, Jaster knew. Master Yoda had always said that. But it was important, nonetheless, that they be taken care of.</p><p>           For Padawans and Knights, this happened in formal ceremonies in the Hall of Remembrance, deep in the underbelly of the Jedi Temple. But for Jedi Masters, especially ones of Master Oppo’s stature, the tradition was a bit different. Masters’ bodies were cremated on an open pyre, with no speech, no eulogy. It was quieter, starker, a recognition of the intimacy many Masters shared. It was a farewell, rather than a lesson.</p><p>           Master Oppo had educated Jaster intimately on the spiderweb that was affection between beings, and pointed out the rotten core at its center, attachment. He had been patient with Jaster, but detailed, pointing out all of the strands that led to danger for a Jedi. Master Oppo had explained that, although these things usually happened in private for the benefit of those with less rational heads, Jedi were expected to show each other kindness. Care. Compassion. Even love. So long as a Jedi could follow the path the Force lay before them, there was no danger in this, only healing and connection. Master Oppo had had hundreds of years to understand this, and Jaster trusted his judgment implicitly. But it did little to mend the hole in him, now, the void where Master Oppo was.</p><p>           He was an orphaned Padawan now. He knew others who were, and he’d heard about the feeling of losing a bond with one’s Master. Like losing a limb, they’d said, but worse, because it’s something you relied on more than an arm or a leg. The ones who’d described it that way didn’t usually end up staying in the Order long, but instead went to the Service Corps. Jaster took some small faith that he didn’t feel it quite that way. Instead, the emptiness simply felt like a wound—open and bleeding profusely, now, but able to close with time.</p><p>           Master Kenobi and Knight Skywalker had been able to isolate Ventress over Sullust, but they hadn’t quite caught her. She’d taken advantage of a crashed droid ship and fled into unknown space. They had made it back in time for the funeral, and most of the Council had found their way back from wherever they’d been. Only Master Mundi was still absent.</p><p>           Jaster’s friends stood around him, those that had been able to break away from the war. Crechemates, Padawans he’d served with…he was lucky they’d shown up, and taken care of him. The pain was steadying, and then it would alleviate, but the prior few days had been difficult. They had been there for him. It made him think back on the times Master Oppo had offered leave for him to come back and support them just the same, and the times he’d turned it down.</p><p>           Master Oppo burned on the pyre, and Jaster could hear murmurs around him. He was sure they all had to do with where the Order would go from here, now that its greatest strategist was gone. Jaster himself was supposed to rise up to the mantle in time, but karking Sith hells, he wasn’t ready now. Not by fifty parsecs. Other Masters would take over in that area, and they would make do. Master Oppo had told him as much, before.</p><p>           After a half-hour, Master Oppo’s body had gone to ash, and the Temple staff came forward to deal with his remains. The Jedi and Senators around the chamber, the Chancellor among them, all began to shift and find their way to the exit.</p><p>           Jaster stood there, as was expected of him. His friends, one by one, wished him goodbye and told him where they’d be later if he wanted company.</p><p>           Some of the Masters hung back. He was grateful; he’d made a good impression with many of them, and they knew him by sight even if before now some didn’t know his name. Being Master Oppo’s Padawan had come with benefits, and recognition. There was an assumption that he must be competent, if he’d been so trusted with that mantle. Jaster had always made good on it.</p><p>           Master Plo was first, and he reached out and clasped one of Jaster’s hands between both of his own. “I am so sorry for your loss,” he said, and the low tone of his voice stirred Jaster’s mind toward comfort. “Master Oppo was a true friend. For what difference it makes, I lost my Master as well, too soon…my quarters are open to you, if you choose.”</p><p>           Master Gallia came next. “Jaster,” she said, and she looked down at the floor. “I wish you had had more time with him. May the Force accept his light, and may it come back to you.”</p><p>           Then it was Master Kenobi’s turn, and for a moment he couldn’t say much. Jaster understood; Master Kenobi had the same look in his eyes he was sure he had now. Master Plo knew what it was like, but he could see that for Master Kenobi, his own wound was still raw. “He will always be with you,” said Master Kenobi, finally. “His teachings will guide you where he now cannot. Do not despair, and you need not blame yourself for despair.” He walked off, and after him, Knight Skywalker just reached out and clasped Jaster’s shoulder. They nodded to each other, and that was it.</p><p>           Master Yoda was last in line, and he pointed his gimer stick to the door. “Leave here, we may.”</p><p>           They were the last two out, and Jaster walked beside him, pained now to have to slow his pace like he had with Master Oppo. Master Yoda saw it in his face.</p><p>           “My grand-Padawan, he was,” Yoda said. “My formal apprentice, his Master Yaddle never was, but my student all the same. And him, too.”</p><p>           Jaster didn’t know what to say to that.</p><p>           “Tragedy, this war has brought us. Brought you a great and terrible tragedy, it has.”</p><p>           Master Yoda stopped suddenly.</p><p>           “Strong, do you feel?”</p><p>           “Strong? No, Master, I-“</p><p>           “But strong enough?”</p><p>           Jaster understood. “Yes, Master. I do.”</p><p>           “Feel strong, you do, in the Force. Three weeks’ convalescence, I believe you need, here in the Temple. After that, come before us, you will. Decide your path, we will. Together.”</p><p>           “Yes, Master.”</p><p>           “As Oppo would have wanted, it shall be.” Master Yoda tapped his shin with the gimer stick, like he’d done when Jaster was an Initiate, but this time it felt kinder. Caring. “May the Force be with you.”</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Three weeks afterward, and not a day later, Jaster stood before the Council. He could feel the eyes of the Masters on him, picking him apart. Yoda, Windu, Koon, Kenobi, Ti, Fisto, Gallia, Kcaj…even Master Stass Allie was there, freshly appointed not a week earlier to Master Oppo’s seat. The other three Masters had even sent messages expressing regret that they could not attend, and condolences for Master Oppo. Jaster had begun to feel poorly about it, after his head began to clear; this was a reception few Padawans could have hoped for. Only Tano and a couple of others, really.</p><p>           The weeks had gone by fast, much of it with Jaster deep in meditation in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, or spending time in the creche. The latter was almost as therapeutic for him as the former, attending to the needs of deeply Force-sensitive children. There was no room to dwell on himself. But still, he had found a way, and though Master Oppo’s loss was not quite so immediate anymore it still ached deeply.</p><p>           He stood and faced Masters Yoda and Windu, as was expected of him. The rest of the room picked him apart with their eyes, he could sense it, even if they might not have meant to be doing it.</p><p>           “I would like to begin,” said Master Windu, “By acknowledging that we all feel the loss of Master Rancisis quite deeply. The war effort will move on, the Council will continue, but that does not contradict the difficulty of this.”</p><p>           “Right, my intuition was,” said Master Yoda. “Stable, you are, in the Force, although grieving.”</p><p>           Jaster inclined his head, with thanks.</p><p>           “We have chosen not to assign you to the Service Corps,” said Master Windu.</p><p>           Relief washed over Jaster; although he’d known in his heart that he was a better Jedi than that, he had still been afraid.</p><p>           “We also recognize the reason you were assigned to Master Rancisis in the first place. Your potential in the Force is substantial, and you have been a talented learner since your days in the creche. Master Oppo regarded you very highly, and we understand why he did so. You are among a small group of especially notable Padawans in the Order, and you have the humility for us to be able to tell you so.”</p><p>           Master Plo leaned forward. “We are aware that you could pass the Jedi Trials, if they were presented to you. We do not know, of course, whether you would, but we are in agreement that you could. Is this something you would like to pursue, at this time, and assume command of Oppo’s 362<sup>nd</sup> Legion?”</p><p>           “Thank you,” Jaster said, and he took a moment to find the words. “Thank you, Masters. But…I don’t feel ready to pass the Trials, even if I might be. I’m not ready now.”</p><p>           Master Yoda inclined his head. “Suspected this, we did.”</p><p>           “Master?”</p><p>           “A humble Jedi, you have been, Padawan Vigil. Know, you do, the Jedi that you are…and the Jedi you are not yet.”</p><p>           “We understand that you hold yourself to a higher standard than most,” said Master Koon. “Higher than most Padawans would meet, before their Knighting. But we would expect nothing less from a student of Oppo’s.”</p><p>           The Council was quiet for a moment, very quiet. Jaster noticed a slight rustling behind him, but he stifled the urge to turn. Master Yoda saw this, and he lifted a hand, to point behind him.</p><p>           Jaster turned around, slowly. Master Kenobi was standing before him, hands clasped loosely at his waist, eyes soft.</p><p>           “Jaster Vigil, I’ve wanted to take on a student since the start of the Clone War. I understand what it is, to stand where you do now…and I cannot help but wish I had been bold enough to admit what you just have.”</p><p>           Jaster looked around at the councillors; their faces betrayed nothing.</p><p>           “Any student Master Oppo trained is a Jedi I would want at my side,” Master Kenobi continued. “I understand, of course, if you’d like to consider, or if you’d like to finish your apprenticeship in a more peaceful way. I am acutely aware that I cannot fill the place of your Master, and I do not claim to. But if you should choose to accept, my knowledge is yours.”</p><p>           Jaster took too long to find his words. “I—I am honored by your kindness, Master Kenobi. Yes. Yes, I accept.”</p><p>           “Then, decided, it is.” Master Yoda’s ears twitched with happiness. “Padawan Vigil, the apprentice to Obi-Wan Kenobi, you are.”</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           They had walked through the Temple for nearly half an hour already, side-by-side, Jaster sharing memories of Master Oppo and his apprenticeship and Master Kenobi explaining his own experiences. There was ample common ground between them, and already Jaster knew that Master Kenobi’s wit and compassion and his soft, steady Force presence indicated a being he could trust fully. Jaster had felt it as a new bond opened in the Force, and he had felt just a trace of a tingle across his broken bond with Master Oppo. For him, that was all the approval he needed.</p><p>           Something slammed into Jaster from the side, without warning, and all of a sudden Master Kenobi was grinning and Jaster was in the embrace of no fewer than four bright, shining stars in the Force.</p><p>           They stepped back, after having suffocated him adequately, and Jaster was awestruck for a moment. Anakin Skywalker stood before him, and his Padawan, both renowned through the Order. Two clones were with them, and though Jaster hadn’t been properly introduced, he knew from Council meetings and the Order’s files that they were Cody and Rex, the leaders of the 501<sup>st</sup> and the 212<sup>th</sup>. All four just stood there, beaming at him.</p><p>           Ahsoka was the first to step forward. “Jaster,” she said, and she hugged him. They’d talked before, but Jaster hadn’t known they were close enough to hug. “I’m so glad you decided to accept.”</p><p>           “So am I. It’s good to see you.”</p><p>           “You must be Jaster Vigil,” said Knight Skywalker, and they clasped hands. “Anakin,” he said. “I’m sorry we’ve never gotten a chance to properly meet before now, but I’m sure we’ll get to know each other.”</p><p>           Rex and Cody came forward. “Good to have you with us, Commander,” said Rex.</p><p>           “Captain, it’s good to meet you.”</p><p>           “It’ll be good to have you on board,” Commander Cody said, and he cast a furtive look toward Obi-Wan. “I’ve needed an extra set of hands to help keep our General alive. In fact,” he said, and he rifled around through the pockets on his belt. “Here.” He produced a lightsaber clip identical to Jaster’s own, and he pointed to another, matching one leaning against his own Clone armor. “For his, when he drops it.”</p><p>           Master Kenobi reddened. “Cody, I-“</p><p>           “Say thank you, Obi-Wan,” said Anakin. “That’s why all of us are excited, not just Cody.”</p><p>           Jaster couldn’t help but laugh at that.</p><p>           “Well, then,” Master Kenobi said, and he looked out at the five before him. “I suppose this is us, now.”</p><p>           Cody stepped forward again. “I put in a request to see if some of the men from the 362<sup>nd</sup> could transition to the 212<sup>th</sup>. We didn’t get the legion integration I’d hoped for, but I’ve got fifty spots reserved for men of your choosing. Anything goes.”</p><p>           “Really?”</p><p>           “Really. It’ll be good for the boys to have new blood.”</p><p>           Jaster didn’t know what to say to that, and Ahsoka was the first one to understand. She struck up a conversation about ration packs, led the group away somewhere into the Temple, and Jaster felt the wound of Master Oppo begin, just a bit, to heal.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>14 Months till Knightfall</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So y’all have the premise! We’ll be going into the late war next. I’m going to TRY for weekly updates! But I make no promises. The world is a little bit on fire. I hope you all enjoy!</p><p>One small note: Right after Rancisis v. Ventress, Anakin and Obi-Wan arrive to pursue Ventress. This is the battle and duel in the TCW episode "Nightsisters". For this AU, I wanted to explain why exactly Sidious got nervous around Ventress right then. What better reason to make Sheevyboi concerned than to get a victory over Master Oppo, which for all Sheev knows, she did without help or injury? The show thus picks up mere hours after that scene ends.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Apprenticeship: Redux</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which we get to see a few snatches of time with Jaster and the group, before the war draws to a close.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Eleven Months before Knightfall</em>
</p><p> </p><p>           The Umbara engagement had dragged on far longer than Master Kenobi had hoped, and Jaster shared his dismay. The locals were far tougher than any droid army, and they had a cruel streak in them to match. The 212<sup>th</sup> was depleted, as were their support armies. Word from Master Krell, on the northern front, was scant, but better than that from Master Garen Muln, whose 44<sup>th</sup> Legion had broken entirely on the southern line. It was up to the central army, their main force, to break through.</p><p>           They were close, to their credit. Master Kenobi’s leadership was precise. They had Jedi; Ahsoka had come to join them after escorting the gunships to their respective drop zones, and Barriss Offee with her. Master Tiin was coordinating the space offensive, with experienced Knights like A’Sharad Hett up there to join him. But Jaster had noticed on Master Kenobi’s face that the man was concerned. So many Jedi present meant so many fragile, vulnerable Jedi lives to protect.</p><p>           But if the next push succeeded, it wouldn’t matter. They’d evaded the Umbarans’ tricks, and they were at the edge of the planet capitol. If they could take it, this all would be over.</p><p>           Jaster was at Master Kenobi’s side at the final briefing. So were Ahsoka and Barriss. Commander Cody was there, and his top advisers. And completing the circle were Captain Hound, and Holt by his side. They’d taken to the 212<sup>th</sup> even better than Jaster had, along with the other men he’d requested, and their presence gave him faith.</p><p>           “We will be leading a two-pronged attack to the city center,” Commander Cody said. “Once the heavy artillery breaks us some holes through the walls, we rush our men in at every breach point and form up into the two attack columns.” A holo-sim of the city appeared in front of them. “Group One will be led by General Kenobi and myself. We will push up into this plaza and secure it, to position artillery there and provide fire support. Group Two, led by the Jedi Commanders, will take advantage and push to the center. Our forces will peel off and join them there.”</p><p>           Jaster spoke up. “How do you anticipate that we deal with their heavy guns covering the center, without the support we planned on getting from the other fronts?”</p><p>           Master Kenobi smiled wryly. “That’s where Master Tiin will be doing our work for us. He’s snuck onto the surface, with clones to stand in for the third attack vector we were counting on. With a surprise attack at their rear, the Umbarans will be forced to divert resources, including the heavy guns. And once they give away their positions, Master Tiin’s air support will mark them for destruction. His group should meet the Padawans on their way.”</p><p>           They all shared a look around the holo. Ahsoka reached out to switch it off, and she grinned at them. “Let’s get off this planet.”</p><p>           Master Kenobi pulled Jaster aside, as everyone dispersed. “I’ve spoken to Ahsoka and Barriss,” he said. “Neither of them want to be giving orders, this battle.”</p><p>           “No?”</p><p>           “Not with everything at stake. And I cannot blame them. The Umbarans have been formidable, and I trust you to lead your men out of traps. I trust you to keep them safe.”</p><p>           “Master, I can’t be watching over everyone-“</p><p>           “Trust in your troops. Trust in Ahsoka and Barriss, and the Force. You will not be alone. But they do need leadership, and I’d much rather you be giving it than Boil.”</p><p>           “I understand.”</p><p>           The next hour was a mess of battle preparations and artillery bombardment. Then the troops were spread throughout the Umbaran jungle, sneaking up until they could mass near the breach points in the city wall. Master Kenobi departed, and Ahsoka and Barriss joined him, both ready for battle. All three of them shared an inclination to stay together, faced with their enemy.</p><p>           But then Jaster was on the ground, lying just like the thousands of troops for miles around him, and the quiet washed over everyone as the artillery ceased. That was the signal.</p><p>           Jaster stood, and raised his lightsaber. A single line of brilliant green stood out amid the darkness. “Go!” he said, and he took off running, Ahsoka and Barriss at his side.</p><p>           Blasters fired off from either side, although the walls themselves had been thoroughly brought down. Jaster ran forward, deflecting green bolts back toward their source, and Ahsoka and Barriss did the same.</p><p>           “Regretting Makashi now?” Ahsoka laughed next to him.</p><p>           Barriss joined in: “Makashi? What, did you think you’d be duelling evil Emperors and saving the Galaxy all by yourself?”</p><p>           Jaster couldn’t help but laugh in return. Ahsoka and Anakin both loved making fun of his choice, and as time passed he’d understood why. Master Kenobi had given him a healthy dose of Soresu training, anyway, and he grew more proficient by the day.</p><p>           “I’ll bring down Dooku, just you wait!” said Jaster, and he leapt over the pile of rubble the collapsed wall had formed. On the other side the Umbarans were unprepared, and some even scattered at the sight of him. He waited for the clones to appear on the rubble’s top, like they’d talked about, each wave coming down to join him only when the next arrived to give covering fire.</p><p>           The Umbarans began a retreat, and Jaster gave them a few moments to mass with him. Then he signaled out to the road ahead, wide and with only occasional buildings beside it, perfect for a frontal assault given the conditions.</p><p>           They took off running, all together, and it felt as if the Umbarans couldn’t stop them. AT-RTs ran ahead and disabled the light artillery, and although the shelling was constant, although snipers shot from wherever they could, the army pressed on. Captain Hound was at Jaster’s side, and Holt darted across the battlefield almost as adeptly as a Jedi, giving his support wherever little holes began to appear. Barriss and Ahsoka gained their confidence, and soon they ran at either side of the road, rallying men there all on their own.</p><p>           Halfway into the city, Jaster realized it. The shelling had stopped, and the Umbarans opposing them were fewer and fewer. Now, at the end of their wild and desperate defense of their planet, they were depleted enough that the clone armies could afford to overwhelm them. They hadn’t mined their own capitol, because of course they hadn’t, they were living beings too and understood the concept of home. Jaster was sure thousands of civilians were somewhere just out of sight, and he had no illusions on whether or not they wanted to live to see tomorrow. Umbara was wealthy, it was supposed to be sophisticated, it hadn’t been made for war in the first place, and its warriors were running out.</p><p>           They’d almost reached the center when they heard whoops and rallying cries, coming in from a street to their left. Jaster waved the clones forward, and stopped to look. Half a dozen Jedi Knights and Padawans led an equally massive force, and Master Saesee Tiin was at the head of it all.</p><p>Jaster couldn’t help himself. He raised his lightsaber and cheered, and Master Tiin, despite his restraint, did the same. The High General used a burst of Force-augmented speed and ran to the front of their combined force. He grinned at Jaster as he passed.</p><p>Jaster took a sigh of relief. Captain Hound came up beside him as they returned to their run. “He’s something, isn’t he?”</p><p>“Master Oppo used to tell me Master Tiin scared younglings by eating the heads off live bugs for fun.”</p><p>Hound grimaced. “Well, as long as he knows what he’s doing, I suppose that’s fine by me.”</p><p>It wasn’t long before they were upon the very center of the city, surrounded by the last of the Umbaran Militia, and with their massive army and Master Kenobi’s pushing along the opposite side, they were overrun quickly. The battle in the air had quieted, with clones just chasing off the last of the Umbaran fighters, and Jaster could only assume that the situation in orbit was the same. The Militia commander had killed himself, flooded his helmet with some poison gas when he’d seen they wanted to parlay, but the city’s politicians were not quite so wrapped up in their own honor. It would be up to the Negotiator, with Jaster at his side, to work out a peace deal and a process for reintegration to the Republic in the coming days.</p><p>For now, the battle was won. Jaster didn’t miss the weight that lifted from Ahsoka’s shoulders, or the comparative ease in Hound’s voice, or the way Master Tiin took to winking at him whenever they crossed paths over the next many hours. Even when the news of Master Krell’s betrayal and Waxer’s death reached them, and Cody and his <em>vod’e</em> left to comfort Boil, it was clear that for all of them, the end of the Umbara campaign meant the end of nightmares. Even for Master Kenobi. And if Master Kenobi could admit it, it was okay for Jaster to admit it too.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>There were more campaigns like that, bloody and cold and seemingly intractable, with Master Kenobi and Ahsoka and Anakin. They always seemed to get the most difficult ones, especially now that there were four of them all together and the Council seemed to regard them more highly each day. But between those awful moments of tragedy and pain, there were times of small peace, with each other and the clones. He and Ahsoka had become fast friends, and despite teasing from Master Plo, both had every intention of remaining just that. Jaster had been the recipient of some truly incredible lessons from Master Kenobi, and he’d also realized just how many holes had been left open in his lightsaber training—all love to Master Oppo, but Master Kenobi had also let him in on the fact that that hadn’t been one of the Thisspissian’s strongest suits when it came to beings of a non-snake anatomy. Jaster couldn’t blame him.</p><p>Now, Jaster walked to the bridge of the Resolute, where Master Kenobi was waiting for him. Jaster didn’t know precisely for what, but he assumed that it was another training session, in front of the men like Jaster had convinced him to begin doing. It had been good for morale with the 362<sup>nd</sup>, and it was excellent for the 212<sup>th</sup>, who had gone the extra mile in making Master Kenobi blush with over-long compliments in the same Coruscanti accent the man himself had. Jaster had made sure that Master Kenobi had never directly caught him fueling that fire…or caught Anakin doing it…or Ahsoka.</p><p>But when Jaster came to the bridge, he was greeted by an entirely different sight.</p><p>“Master, what’s this?” he said. Master Kenobi sat on a stool, very much out of place, in front of a little table he’d pushed up against the wall, right at a window with a perfect view of the hyperspace tunnel they barreled through.</p><p>“Take a seat, my young Padawan,” Master Kenobi said, and he used the Force to push out a second stool from under the table. Jaster came to it, hesitantly. “Have you ever played Shah-Tezh?”</p><p>Jaster looked again at the table, where indeed, he saw now that the game was arrayed before them in starting position. And at each of their right hands—Force, it was alcohol, of some kind. Master Kenobi was going to drink with him.</p><p>“Jaster?” said Master Kenobi, and his mouth turned upward. “Are you with me?”</p><p>“Yes, Master, I’ve played before…it’s been a while.”</p><p>“And for me. If you can believe it, neither Ahsoka nor Anakin are particularly interested in playing with me, and Cody’s found it rather irritates him.”      </p><p>“Why’s that?” Jaster sat down.</p><p>“Apparently, I’m unbearable.”</p><p>“Ah.” He lifted the cup of alcohol. “And this?”</p><p>“I’ve only tried a few Falleen delicacies in my life, but their whiskey is one of my favorites.” Master Kenobi reached out and moved his Beast; the game had begun. “Have you ever been to your home planet?”</p><p>“Never.”</p><p>“I understand. I’ve only been back to Stewjon only once, and I can tell you they haven’t got nearly as much culture as yours, but perhaps when there is a break in the war, I can take you and show you around.”</p><p>Jaster moved his Knight, and took a draught of the whiskey. He grimaced, and slammed it down. “It’s strong.”</p><p>“I was quite sure you could stand it.”</p><p>“Is there an instructional purpose to this?”</p><p>“Only so much as you choose there to be. I love to teach you, Jaster, but you’re beyond any sort of lecture. Now, there is only experience.”</p><p>“If only I felt the same with my bladework.”</p><p>“You’re learning.” Master Kenobi paused, as he was moving his Craft, and looked up at Jaster with what he knew was a full-faced Kenobi smile. “Truly, Jaster, you are.”</p><p>“When Ahsoka stops thrashing me, I’ll believe it.”</p><p>“Ahsoka has spent her life learning from Anakin, and although he won’t admit it himself, Anakin is one of the greatest lightsaber instructors the Order has.”</p><p>Jaster reached out to bring his Imperator out of harm’s way. “I never realized how many holes Master Oppo left me.”</p><p>“You must understand, Oppo was a master duelist. But he never understood the concept of legs,” Master Kenobi said. His eyes glinted. “How, then, could he ever understand footwork?”</p><p>“I suppose you’re right.”</p><p>“Besides, your Soresu is evolving. And as much as they tease you for your Makashi…it’s really quite good.”</p><p>Jaster was glad that non-Falleen couldn’t see when he reddened. “I’d still like some sessions with Anakin.”</p><p>“Then take them. And I’ll force him to receive some lessons from you on strategy, in return.”</p><p>They shared another smile. The 212<sup>th</sup>’s battle success and casualties had improved greatly in the past months, and though Jaster tried not to acknowledge it, he did understand he deserved some of the credit. The 501<sup>st</sup> hadn’t learned, but Jaster had almost appreciated that, instead teaching the 212<sup>th</sup>’s lieutenants to build them into the plan whenever the Legions were on joint assignment.</p><p>“I wish I could give lessons to the Senate,” Jaster said. “Some days, I mean.” He moved his Knight again, and Master Kenobi raised his eyebrows at the choice.</p><p>“Is that so?” Master Kenobi said, and took Jaster’s Knight off the board with his Dowager.</p><p>“Indeed,” Jaster said, and his Outcast emerged from nowhere to steal Master Kenobi’s far more valuable Dowager away. “I’d kill to have any of the Senators propose a new fleet doctrine.”</p><p>“A new fleet doctrine?”</p><p>“One that emphasizes cruisers and frigates. One with strong anti-starfighter capability that doesn’t put our men in dogfights, and lets our Venators be the carriers they were meant to be. The Separatists understand the value of a balanced fleet, at least a little bit, and we suffer for it.”</p><p>Master Kenobi inclined his head, and moved his Craft again, more carefully. “Perhaps you’re right. I’ve been saying for over a year that our AT-TEs should be repulsor-driven-“</p><p>“Master, don’t get me going on repulsor tanks,” Jaster said. The light in Master Kenobi’s face told him to indulge himself. “I understand the value to the Juggernauts, I do. They can stay. But why would we <em>ever</em> force a reliance on a six-legged tank with such a low gravity center? It’s a beetle! Some days, I swear, I don’t understand how we haven’t lost the war. Hound agrees with me, too.”</p><p>“And Cody?”</p><p>“I would never say any of this to Cody. He’d slap me on the back of the head and tell me about how the Way Things Are couldn’t possibly be wrong.”</p><p>“Perhaps he would,” said Master Kenobi. “Your move?”</p><p>“Right. Thank you, Master.” Jaster retreated his Outcast.</p><p>Master Kenobi smiled softly, and then his look turned sad. “It occurred to me days ago, Jaster, that you haven’t used my first name once.”</p><p>“No, why would I?”</p><p>“In fact, you hardly ever use my last name, either. Just Master. Or General, when the troops are around.”</p><p>Jaster cocked his head. “I’m sorry, Master, should I be using something different?”</p><p>“No, no. But it didn’t take Anakin long after he met me to start calling me Obi-Wan in private, and Ahsoka does rather frequently. If I’ve given the impression that you can’t, I’m not that sort of Master-“</p><p>“I know!” Jaster paused for a moment, and thought, and moved his Vizier while he had the opportunity. “I know. I suppose Master Oppo was always just that. He really should’ve been Master Rancisis, but that doesn’t really roll off my tongue if I needed him in a hurry. And then I’ve always known you as Master Kenobi, so why would that change?”</p><p>“Because I understand what it is to be an orphaned Padawan. And I may not have had a new Master come into that place, but I can imagine it wouldn’t have been comfortable for a while. I wanted to ask.”</p><p>“Master.” He formed the words in his mouth. “Master Obi-Wan, I haven’t felt anything but welcome since everybody tackled me in the Temple. Truly. Obviously I’ve had so many opportunities to gather knowledge, but beyond that.”</p><p>Master Kenobi—Master Obi-Wan—looked reassured. “I’m glad to hear that.”<br/>
           “If I can ask. What was it like, for you? I know we’ve talked about it a bit, but really.”</p><p>Master Obi-Wan sat and considered that for a long time—long enough that they each moved their pieces twice before he spoke again. “It was devastating,” he said. “For a little while. At first, I couldn’t shake the image of what had happened to him. Or the feeling of holding him as he died. I had Anakin, of course, and he kept me more than busy, but I often wonder if that sped me along in looking past Qui-Gon.”</p><p>“Did Anakin ever notice?”</p><p>“He found me grieving more than once. He hardly knew what to do, but he managed better than most would have.”</p><p>Jaster smiled. “He had a lot of insight, when we actually got to talking. About getting over Master Oppo.”</p><p>Master Obi-Wan grimaced. “Well, he’s lost me twice already, so I’m not surprised.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I was captured. On Jabiim, and tortured, for quite a long time very early in the war. It was Ventress.” They both shared a grimace. “In that time, Anakin was apprenticed to Master Mundi, and he believed me to be dead. He grieved me. And then, although it was for a much shorter time, the Council and I felt it was crucial for Anakin to believe me dead so I could go undercover.”</p><p>“That incident on Naboo,” Jaster said. “Master Oppo mentioned something about you becoming a bounty hunter.”</p><p>“I became a facsimile of a bounty hunter. The same one who was believed to have shot me. It allowed him to curry favor with Dooku, and the Chancellor is alive because of it. But I can tell Anakin still carries it with him.”</p><p>Jaster frowned. “I can see why, Master.”</p><p>“Perhaps.”</p><p>They each moved their pieces again.</p><p>“I don’t wish for you to have that same experience I did.” Master Obi-Wan sounded a bit more tired, when he said it. “I hope that you haven’t.”</p><p>“I haven’t. You’ve all been here to catch me, when I’ve fallen, and in a way I gather nobody caught you.”</p><p>“It’s easier, now, with the troops. They have a way of banding together around somebody.”</p><p>“I think even without the troops, you do a good job. Ahsoka does the leg-work, though.”</p><p>They both chuckled. “You’ve gotten on very well together, haven’t you?” said Master Kenobi.</p><p>“We’ve got a pact.”</p><p>“A what?”</p><p>“Well, we’ve talked. And with two miserably reckless Masters between us, we’ve decided that one of us has always got to pretend we know what we’re doing.”</p><p>It was Master Obi-Wan’s turn to redden.</p><p>“I’m joking, Master, I swear. But we’ve got each other’s backs.”</p><p>“I’m glad.”</p><p>Jaster moved a piece, and waited for Master Obi-Wan to counter. “You’ve taught me greater trust in the Living Force, and what it means to trust in it. Master Oppo never spoke much about that.”</p><p>“Few Jedi do.”</p><p>“It’s…better, I think, than such a pure focus on the Cosmic Force. It’s more real, it’s intuitive. I can feel it helping me to become a better Jedi.”</p><p>“It will. And you are becoming quite the Jedi, indeed.”</p><p>Jaster moved his own Dowager, for the first time in their game, and he placed it such that it locked Master Kenobi’s Imperator into a death position. “Shah-Tezh, Master,” said Jaster, and he finished the rest of his Falleen whiskey. Master Obi-Wan squinted at the board, looking simply struck dumb, and Jaster took a long bow. He walked back to the clones on the bridge, and Master Kenobi smiled softly after him.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Jaster had been off-planet for the entirety of Ahsoka’s betrayal. He’d been assigned a solo mission in the Outer Rim a day before the bombing and been out of contact for a full Coruscanti week, and he felt absolutely awful for having missed the entire thing. He’d come back as soon as he’d known, of course, but it was no use to her by then. She’d disappeared into the lower levels just hours before.</p><p>           He had her private comm code, the one Anakin didn’t even know about, that she only shared with Rex and her Padawan friends. He and Rex had talked, and agreed they’d give it time before they tried it.</p><p>           It was Jaster and Anakin and Master Obi-Wan now, off on their first mission since. The Council had wanted to ease them, especially Anakin, back into service after a couple of days had passed, and they’d assigned the three to a peacekeeping mission to reaffirm alliances in the Deep Core. It had been starkly uneventful, which Jaster was sure was most likely the point, but Anakin clearly hadn’t seen it that way. With no droids to demolish and his own unbreakable perception that the Council thought he was damaged goods, he’d become an absolute pain to both Master Obi-Wan and Jaster.</p><p>           The three of them tried to walk slowly through the halls of the planetary legislature, back to the private rooms they’d been given, but Anakin couldn’t help but storm ahead. The dignitary appointed to them, awash in purple and blue robes, gave Master Obi-Wan a look.</p><p>           “I think it’s best if we retire to our quarters,” Master Obi-Wan said. “We can find our way from here.”</p><p>           The dignitary nodded with a long hissing affirmative, and made their way off.</p><p>           The three walked in relative silence. Their job now, given to them by the planetary ruler, was to apprehend a corrupt statesman before the night was over. It was simple enough, and Jaster and Master Obi-Wan exchanged ideas on how to get it done.</p><p>           “Can you be quiet?” Anakin said, not turning around.</p><p>           They exchanged a look. “Anakin, what do you think of the plan?” said Master Obi-Wan.</p><p>           “I don’t care what we do. Let’s get it done and get back to the front.”</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan nodded. “We’ve got all night. We can spare a few moments of peace in the quarters before we get to work.”</p><p>           Anakin bristled, drawing his hands around himself. He marched on.</p><p>           Jaster waited a bit before he spoke again. “If you speak to the politician at his door, we can sneak in the back way and locate the evidence-“</p><p>           “Can you stop?”</p><p>           The frost they’d already felt from Anakin through the Force settled into an ice sheet. They didn’t say a word for the rest of the walk.</p><p>           They got to their quarters, two suites at the end of a long hallway. Master Obi-Wan opened the one he shared with Jaster. “Come meet us once you’ve freshened up.”</p><p>           Anakin scowled. “What?”</p><p>           “I thought we all needed it, after that dinner?”</p><p>           “I’ll wash up in yours.”</p><p>           “Anakin, we’ve only got one ‘fresher-“</p><p>           “Then I’ll wait my turn.” He stormed past Obi-Wan and all but threw himself into one of the chairs.</p><p>Jaster had seen traces of this from Anakin, in the past, but never something like that. Never something that he could only describe as a tantrum.</p><p>Master Obi-Wan was clearly trying to brush past it. He set a pot for his tea, and a nod between he and Jaster confirmed that yes, his apprentice would like a cup as well. When the water boiled, Master Obi-Wan brought Jaster his mug, and they both took others of the empty seats.</p><p>Anakin looked up, and somehow got even more sour. “What, I don’t get a drink?”</p><p>“It’s tea, Anakin,” said Master Obi-Wan. “You don’t even like my tea.”</p><p>“It’s supposed to be relaxing.”</p><p>“You’ve never found it relaxing before-“</p><p>Anakin got up, and made use of the ‘fresher, empty as it was.</p><p>Master Obi-Wan looked absolutely exhausted when he turned to Jaster. “I was afraid this might happen today.”</p><p>“What would?”</p><p>“He’s feeling Ahsoka’s loss, and I can’t blame him-“</p><p>Anakin poked his head out. “The walls are thin. Master.”</p><p>Master Obi-Wan turned back to him, fully. “Anakin, come have a seat.”</p><p>“I’ll be there in a minute.”</p><p>“Have a seat.”</p><p>Something had changed in Master Obi-Wan’s voice, and Anakin changed too, almost as if he snapped some small part of himself to attention. He came over, warily, and claimed his chair again.</p><p>“Anakin, I understand that this is raw-“</p><p>“I don’t want to start.”</p><p>“Anakin, I cannot help you if you choose to shut down. You know that.”</p><p>Jaster couldn’t help but feel as if this was a moment with the kind of intimacy he should not have been observing. And with his shields lowered more than he should have been, he realized too late he’d let some of his discomfort leak into the Force.</p><p>Anakin turned to him. “You can go.”</p><p>“Anakin!”</p><p>“What! If he doesn’t want to be here-“</p><p>“Of course he’s going to be here, he’s my Padawan!”</p><p>“No, I’m-“</p><p>Anakin caught himself, but it was too late. Master Obi-Wan clearly understood instantly, and Jaster did as well. His discomfort only grew.</p><p>Anakin cleared his throat. “I was going to say that I’m only concerned for Jaster’s well-being.”</p><p>“His well-being is my concern, Anakin. As is yours.”</p><p>They all sat in silence. Anakin clearly preferred it over admitting what his slip really meant, Master Obi-Wan seemed unsure of what to do, and Jaster might have thrown himself out the window if the mission hadn’t demanded such a level of decorum.</p><p>“The politician,” Master Obi-Wan finally said.</p><p>“Right,” said Anakin, and Jaster cleared his throat and stopped shrinking into his chair. “What was the plan?”</p><p>“I distract him at the door, and you two break in and find the evidence of the data he sent to the Trade Federation.”</p><p>“Right. We can do that.”</p><p> </p><p>The politician’s mansion was a sight to behold—the sort of place one could afford, if one were to accept a massive payout from Nute Gunray himself. A few guards and attendants wandered the lawn, even so late at night, but Jaster and Anakin weren’t particularly worried about being caught.</p><p>They’d timed their sprints to the wall, till they got right below the windows that signalled the politician’s private study. Anakin took his grappling hook from his belt and fired it upward, testing where its barbed point dug into the roof overhang above.</p><p>“It’s stable,” he whispered, and he eased his way up slowly. Jaster kept a lookout as Anakin slowly lifted the window, and snuck in. Jaster took his cue, scrambling up while Anakin kept watch for him.</p><p>The room was dark, but they both reached into their intuition and began feeling around.</p><p>“You know,” Anakin said, and Jaster’s heart rose up in his chest. “Obi-Wan speaks very highly of you. What you’re able to get done on missions. How he feels you can rely on each other to be of the same mind.”</p><p>Jaster cleared his throat. “Yeah…yeah, we work well together.”</p><p>“I’m sure he must appreciate having an apprentice who can have his back, in the way he needs.”</p><p>Jaster saw immediately how that bit two ways, and despite himself, he chose the easier of the paths. “If it helps, I don’t think Ahsoka will be gone that long.”</p><p>Anakin stiffened.</p><p>“I just…I’m sorry if I’m speaking out of turn. But I know how much she relies on you too.”</p><p>“Too?”</p><p>“I only mean that-“</p><p>“I’m letting go.” Anakin had venom in his voice, and as he rifled through the politician’s drawers, he took no care to be secretive. “If that’s what you mean.”</p><p>Jaster tried again. “I couldn’t imagine how hard that would be.”</p><p>“It’s a good thing you don’t have to.”</p><p>“I want to help.”</p><p>“You couldn’t bring her back.”</p><p>“That isn’t what I mean.”</p><p>Anakin finally turned around and looked at him, and Jaster did his best to not let on how intimidating that stare could be. “Then what do you mean?”</p><p>“Master Obi-Wan is still here. For these moments.”</p><p>That shook Anakin a bit, though he barely showed it except in the Force. “You could at least call him Obi-Wan.”</p><p>“Feels weird.”</p><p>“It’s weird when you don’t,” said Anakin.</p><p>Jaster chose his words carefully before he spoke. “I know I couldn’t miss her as much as you do. But Obi-Wan is the one I’m leaning on.”</p><p>“That’s fine.”</p><p>“I want to get out of the way.”</p><p>Anakin frowned. “What?”</p><p>“Switch with me, at the quarters. I’ll take your suite. If you don’t say a word to him, then fine, that’s on you, but he’ll be there when you want to talk. If you want to talk.”</p><p>The older Jedi was silent. Jaster took that as a cue to continue.</p><p>“I’m not wise,” he said. “But I’m smart enough to see that for some reason you think he and I are close and you two can’t be close. Some karking bantha shit like that. And I’ve known you long enough and heard enough stories from Ahsoka to know that everyone talks around you when you get like this.”</p><p>Anakin’s eyes widened.</p><p>“And I know it’s probably stupid to call any of this out. But I’m a bit lost and I don’t know what to do here either, except tell you straight.”</p><p>Anakin didn’t know what to do for a long moment.</p><p>Their comms beeped, both together, and Jaster opened his. Master Obi-Wan was talking, presumably to the politician, but his voice was clearly strained. “Of course, I try and pay close attention to my <em>mission</em>, but I know that I <em>won’t be here </em>on your lovely planet <em>forever-“</em></p><p>The comm cut out. “Kark,” Anakin said, and both of them returned to the politician’s files. But Jaster could feel in the Force that Anakin’s presence was somehow lighter than it had been before—not just less icy, which it certainly was, but explicitly warmer in Jaster’s direction.</p><p>It was something that Ahsoka had told him, early on. To make headway with Master Obi-Wan, one simply needed to make good points. For Anakin, though, one of the only truly effective ways to get him snapped out of a sour mood was to say what was on his mind before he could.</p><p>Even still, Jaster would need a rather long time to calm his heart, and he couldn’t quite believe that the Galaxy’s greatest hope, Anakin Skywalker, hadn’t just put a saber through him.</p><p>“I’ve got it,” Anakin said, and he held up a file. “Proof of transaction in the amount of sixty million credits, payable direct to our guy.”</p><p>They made for the door, now with no apprehension about being seen. Jaster felt the slightest of tugs on his Force wall; it was Anakin.</p><p>Jaster opened himself to it, and an overwhelming sense of <em>Thank you</em> flooded his mind. He smiled at Anakin, just a bit. For now that would have to be enough.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Six Months before Knightfall.</em>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoyed! Wanted to lean into the minutiae of Jaster's life at this point, as we won't be getting anything else nearly so peaceful for a while. The late war is upon us!</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Late War</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Title speaks for itself on this one! I've done my best to work around the content TCW S7:E9 provides, in the latter two scenes, but there are little holes here and there so please bear with me. Enjoy!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Three Months before Knightfall</em>
</p><p> </p><p>           Jaster kept his Temple quarters nearly bare, as he knew a Jedi should. A few simple adornments hung on the walls: a piece of art from a liberated world here, a clumsily assembled sculpture from a creche youngling there. His robes and tunics were all neatly folded away in their compartments, and though he kept his room humid to mirror Falleen and keep his skin vibrant, nothing else was even vaguely reminiscent of the planet.</p><p>           He would not be here much longer, in the side room off Master Obi-Wan’s Councilor suite, itself rather larger than the quarters Anakin had described during his own apprenticeship. Those quarters would mirror the ones Jaster would likely move to, by day’s end.</p><p>           He drew his long robes around him, as was custom, and stepped out to the Temple halls. So far into the war, they were emptier than Jaster had ever known them. There was none of the noise or singing Force energy he had known as an Initiate. He hurt for the children who grew up within the Temple now, who didn’t yet know what it was like in times of peace.</p><p>           Even still, those who saw him pass took notice. Jaster’s hood was drawn up, hands folded together in his sleeves, so that nobody knew quite who he was, but they all knew what such a formal march meant. Initiates and Padawans took a long bow and whispered to each other when they saw him, Knights bobbed their heads in respect, and the occasional Master who passed even did him the great honor of standing back and waiting as he passed.</p><p>He went deeper into the Temple and the encounters grew less frequent. Those who he did see now were the strategists and healers and quartermasters who worked industriously at the Order’s heart. They, too, paid a moment’s respect to him as he went yet deeper.</p><p>He arrived at his destination, and lowered his hood before the Temple Guards. Two of them stood flanking the door.</p><p>“You come for your Great Trial?” one of them said.</p><p>“I do. Jaster Vigil, Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi, formerly of Oppo Rancisis.”</p><p>           They stood aside for him. The door drew up from the ground, slowly. All inside was black.</p><p>           He stepped in, and the door shut behind him. Three sabers lit before him: blue, purple, blue. They raised and lit the faces of the Masters before them, and it was as he expected: Master Obi-Wan, and Master Windu, and Master Ti beside them. He bowed his head before them.</p><p>           “Jaster Vigil,” said Master Windu. “The time has come for your Trials of Knighthood. You have been absolved of your Trial of the Flesh, as you have shown the ability to overcome such loss in your time as a Padawan. The Trials of Skill, Courage, Spirit, and Insight still await you. When you have finished, come to the High Council Chamber. We will receive you there.”</p><p>           Their sabers shut off at once, and Jaster couldn’t even hear as they filed out. The hiss of a pressure-lock was the only clue that they were gone. There were no lights and no further directions.</p><p>           Jaster shrugged off his robe, took a step forward, and knelt to meditate.</p><p>           Immediately the visions took him, and they did not choose to be kind. An image flashed before him and morphed across his memories: failed missions in his youth, admonishments from crechemasters he’d still not forgotten. The Initiate he’d become infatuated with, not long before his Padawanship, and what had happened to her. The other Initiate to whom he had done the same, and what Jaster had done to hurt him, without meaning it. Then, the ones from his time under Master Oppo, all the failures and scoldings and innocents he couldn’t save when it mattered. Children he had just barely rescued while only a child himself. The troopers he’d allowed to die, later on. The brothers he had sent to die.</p><p>           And then it came to Master Oppo, and Jaster felt his walls in the Force begin to crack. But the image didn’t morph away from that memory. Instead, the memory morphed into it, and Jaster could almost hear Master Oppo’s voice yelling out against Jaster’s inability to help. <em>I know you will come and save me, when the time is right, just as I have saved you now</em>. Jaster heard it in Master Oppo’s voice just like he had in his first days, and he sucked in air as the meditation began to fracture. Then he was in the tent, watching it happen—and then <em>he </em>was in the tent, too, while the duel was ongoing. Jaster saw himself clear in the vision, standing off against the wall, watching, smirking as Master Oppo began to fade.</p><p>           The visions fractured further, and Jaster could feel them on the cusp of shattering. “No,” he murmured, and in his mind it was loud as a battlefield. “No.”</p><p>           The Force hummed at him, as the visions intensified again.</p><p>           “No,” he said, and the image of himself grew in his mind. The one that watched and chose to do nothing as Master Oppo died. “No. I am not that.”</p><p>           The vision-Jaster turned to him and smiled wide, baring his fangs, in a way Jaster hardly ever had done.</p><p>           “No.”</p><p>           This time, he felt a wave of his own be thrown out in the Force, and the vision stopped in its place.</p><p>           “No. I couldn’t save him. But I did not let him die.”</p><p>           The Force howled back at him, in currents of <em>betrayal</em> and <em>inaction</em> and <em>complicit</em> and <em>Jedi-killer</em>. But he drew on his own confidence and the Force did not find a crack in it. The memories of the men who’d lived because of him flooded in, their faces. The stillness in the Force he’d felt from the tent, that nothing was wrong, an illusion of the assassin that he could not truly blame himself for having accepted at the time.</p><p>           “I was powerless. That was not my fault.”</p><p>           The vision was gone.</p><p>           He caught his breath, chest heaving, tears partway dried on his face. He had heard stories of Padawans broken by visions during their Knighting, but he didn’t feel broken-</p><p>           His thoughts were interrupted, by the snap-hiss of a lightsaber behind him. And then another.</p><p>           Jaster turned, half-hoping to see the Masters returned, but the sabers were blood-red. The figure holding them stepped forward, and though there was no source of light, her form came into sharp relief. Ventress.</p><p>           “I believe we have business to finish,” she said.</p><p>           “I agree.” Jaster brought his saber to his hand, though he didn’t ignite it yet.</p><p>           “You were hardly a challenge last time, child. Or how quickly did you forget? I tossed you aside as if you were nothing.”</p><p>           “I’d been neglecting some important abilities. I should thank you for bringing them to my attention.”</p><p>           Ventress cackled. “Is that how you see me, after I tore your Master into pieces? As one to be <em>thanked</em>?”</p><p>           “No.”</p><p>           “You were but a flicker in the Force then, as you are now. And if you so seek lessons, you will die learning a second.”</p><p>           Jaster ignited his saber, and he felt his crystal thrum at him in the Force.</p><p>           Ventress screamed. She leapt his way, sabers crashing down.</p><p>           Jaster flowed immediately into Soresu, and let the lessons of Master Obi-Wan breathe through his body. He shifted his weight and cut ribbons through the air, intercepting each of her swings and letting them bounce off his guard. Her boot snapped up and he leaned just out of the way, and disengaged his blade to roll out of her way once, twice, thrice. His blade snapped back in time to catch her in his guard.</p><p>           “You haven’t asked yet,” Ventress hissed, inches from his face.<br/>           “Asked what?” Jaster pushed her away.</p><p>           “The second lesson.”</p><p>           She spun her sabers toward him, one high and one low, and he moved away gracefully. He brought his blocks a bit closer to the hilts of her sabers, and noticed how she understood without effort that her wrists were his target. She swiped at him, and then stood back. “Would you like to know?”</p><p>           “Please.”</p><p>           She feinted an attack, and let loose a powerful blast with the Force. It caught Jaster off-guard and he was blown back, digging his saber into the ground to stop himself. He brought it up just in time to dispel a furious series of attacks.</p><p>           “The second lesson,” she said, as she bladelocked with him again. “The light alone cannot save you. It will <em>abandon</em> you, as you need it most. As you <em>abandoned </em>him.”</p><p>           Jaster frowned, and disengaged. They stood apart, and he shifted his feet. He stood in a Makashi stance, now. She saw it and matched him.</p><p>           He gave some offense back, now. They traded jabs and quick cuts, mixed in powerful chops. Mist curled through the air. Jaster felt anger stir within him, but he did as Master Oppo had taught him long ago.</p><p>           <em>See your anger, when it presents itself. Hold it. Turn it in the air, as you might a gem, and see the way the light filters through it. If you cannot spot an impurity, then give in, my boy, by all means. But I have lived two-hundred years, and I have not yet come across a gem whose corruption I could not see</em>.</p><p>           So, too, was it true now. Jaster let his wrath pass through him and out of him, and his saber work grew crisper to match. Ventress was forced to dodge a sharp thrust at her head. She snarled at him.</p><p>           “Your bladework is weak. You control those forms, but you do not know them. You do not live them. If I unleashed myself upon you, as I should, they would not save you.”</p><p>           Jaster understood that she was right. He knew, in the back of his mind, that this was not real and the Masters were watching, so he had wanted to show off his skill just a bit. But that was not the point, and though his lightsaber skills were enough to hold his own in a simulation, he’d known through countless hours of sparring and practice that these were not techniques he could truly trust.</p><p>           So he smirked at her—he allowed himself that—and shifted his feet for a final time. He brought his blade in front of his chest, at an angle, and dug in with the Force to connect himself to the ground. She hissed again and drew her blades to either side, as he let his truly favored form, Shien, flow into him.</p><p>           This time he was on the defensive again, but he understood the fifth form’s softer variant better than most Knights he knew. It was built for blasterfire, but in the same way that Mandalorian <em>beskar</em> armor was built to deal with blasterfire—it had so many other uses, if its user looked closely. Shien was precise redirection: application of counterforce to meet force, and a reflection of another being’s own offensive directly back into them. It was not so much a more barbed variant of Soresu, as it was a nascent version of Vapaad, another form built to use the enemy against itself.</p><p>           Ventress pressed her attack, and had some success, forcing Jaster to backpedal more than once. She swung wildly, but with sharp intent behind each swing, and with Jaster not throwing out any more attacks of his own she came forward without restraint.</p><p>           But Jaster simply kept true to his form. Each block was now both heavier than the ones before, and also quicker, a brief shock to Ventress’ arms that he could see rattle the grip she kept on her sabers. The assassin hardly noticed at first, but before long Jaster could see her movements become labored. She began to realize, and Jaster felt her drawing on the Dark Side to bolster herself. Jaster allowed it, for there was no circumventing Ventress’ own anatomy. If it worked on Anakin--and at least in sparring, it certainly did--it would work on her.</p><p>           His blocking and countercutting grew more ferocious. He sat into every raised guard, smashed down with equal force of his own to stop Ventress’ blade in her tracks. Each time, he belied just enough of an opening for her to pursue, so that he could meet her head-on every time.</p><p>           He felt the moment draw close, and he seized it: a devastating shunt block that he felt ripple through Ventress’ body. The saber fell from her grip, and he wasted no time. He twisted his own lightsaber behind his head, and brought it down. Ventress was cleaved shoulder-to-hip.</p><p>           She fell away without a word, and the darkness of the room swallowed her.</p><p>           Jaster’s saber was the only thing lit. After a long moment, he switched that off, too.</p><p>           The lights came on, and he almost chuckled at the smoking husk of a training droid before him. The room was empty otherwise, no identifying marks at all, just a smooth wood-paneled circle.</p><p>           Jaster took a breath, and when no further direction came, he went to the door.</p><p>           Everything inside him was tranquil on the way to the High Council chamber. It was not how he thought this would feel, at all.</p><p>           Hours had passed outside, and he was not surprised. From what glimpses he caught, it was nearly dark. Master Obi-Wan had spent the past three days in long meetings, so Jaster wasn’t worried about missing them.</p><p>           He announced himself to more Temple Guards, at the lift entrance to the chamber. The lift brought him up. He remembered to hook his saber back onto his belt, rather than holding it in his hand, as he had been.</p><p>           In the atrium, Anakin was waiting for him, Rex and Hound by his side. The older Jedi stepped toward the younger, hesitantly. “You did it?”</p><p>           “Yeah.”</p><p>           “Congratulations.”</p><p>           Jaster smiled away the awkwardness, as he’d long since learned to do after he’d figured out Anakin’s apprehension around him. “Thank you,” he said. “I couldn’t have passed without your guidance.”</p><p>           “Thank Obi-Wan,” said Anakin.</p><p>           “Well done, kid,” said Hound, and he and Jaster took each other by the bracers, before they both pulled into a hug. Jaster and Rex did the same.</p><p>           “You ready?” said Anakin, once they were done.</p><p>           “I am.”</p><p>           Jaster led the way, and the door opened before him. The few Masters in attendance—Yoda, Windu, Kenobi, Ti, and Billaba, today, and Kolar by holo—all swung around in their chairs to see him. Jaster knew what to do, and he strode forward with confidence, to kneel before Master Yoda.</p><p>           “By the light of the Force,” Master Yoda said. “And the will of the Council. A Jedi Knight, we dub thee.” His saber leapt out from his hand and cut Jaster’s braid. “Rise, Jaster Vigil.”</p><p>           He stood, and from every being in the room, he felt an overwhelming sense of <em>proud</em>. He looked around to each of them, and sent his own deepest thanks through the Force. On Master Obi-Wan, he lingered quite a while, to make sure he got the message.</p><p>           Master Windu spoke. “We received notice just minutes ago that you were successful. How do you feel?”</p><p>           “Calm,” Jaster said, and as he assessed himself in the Force he confirmed that that was the only thing present.”</p><p>           “Come later, the rest will,” said Master Yoda. “A Knight, you are. Show you to your new quarters, your former Master will.”</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan stood, and he addressed the Council. “If I could, before we go,” he said. “I hope that it goes without saying I would like to continue working with Jaster whenever possible? In the same way that Anakin and I have.”</p><p>           Master Yoda bowed his head. “Acceptable to you, is this? Knight Vigil?”</p><p>           “Yes, of course.”</p><p>           Jaster reached out to Anakin in the Force, and felt his hesitance, but also a steady current of acceptance underneath. He was satisfied.</p><p>           “Then it’s decided,” said Master Windu, and he allowed himself the slightest of smiles as the group departed. “And Jaster,” he said.</p><p>           Jaster stopped and turned around again.</p><p>           “It was brought to our attention that Ventress is the one who appeared to you. I do not know how that could have happened.”</p><p>           “I don’t understand.”</p><p>           “Acquired the simulacrum of Ventress, we have,” said Master Yoda. “But accessible only to Masters, it should be, and kept deep within the Archives vaults. How you accessed it, we do not know.”</p><p>           “Masters, I swear, I didn’t choose-“</p><p>           “We know,” said Master Windu. He sighed. “We are only….” And he cut himself off.</p><p>           Master Ti leaned forward. “We are glad that you found success, in your Trial. Nonetheless.”</p><p>           Jaster understood. He bowed one final time, deep before the Council, and he led the way out.</p><p>          </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           The Yerbana campaign was, in many ways, a culmination of all the various campaigns Jaster had observed through the Clone War. A planet marked by lush highland jungles and deep river gorges, sparsely populated in the wildlands but with cities dotting the planet, Yerbana and its famous bridges were absolutely vital to both sides. Located in the Mid Rim, its jungles held one of the only analogues that worked almost as well as bacta, and if the Separatists could deprive the Republic, troopers and civilians alike would die.</p><p>           The push was going very well, though. Three months since Jaster’s Knighting, he now stood on the bridge of the <em>Resolute</em> like he’d done many times before, except now the battle was fully his to win. Master Obi-Wan and Anakin had met up on the surface to turn the most important front to their favor, the last bridge separating them from the Separatists’ planetary command post, but it was Jaster’s role to balance that effort with a dozen other active battles raging below. He shared the bridge with Admiral Yularen and Captain Hound, and the three of them fused battles in land, air, and space into one seamless tactical weave.</p><p>           “Permission to dispatch reinforcements to Sector Two, General,” said Hound.</p><p>           “Take them from Nine,” Jaster said. “They’ve nearly won, and once they do, we won’t need to keep them there.”</p><p>           The Sector Seven lieutenant commed in. “They’ve sent in additional gunships and dropped troops to our rear!”</p><p>           “Are the gunships still present?”</p><p>           “Yes, General.”</p><p>           Jaster turned to Admiral Yularen. “Fighters to deal with the gunships, and bombers to deal with the encirclement?”</p><p>           “It will be done.”</p><p>           The droids were getting desperate. Jaster could feel it. Most of these fronts would be won within the day, and then it would be easy to mop up the rest. As Yularen and Hound and other officers rushed around the bridge, Jaster steadied himself and reached out in the Force, into a moment of battle meditation like Master Oppo had begun to teach him. He was still weak in that realm, but improving, and he felt himself connect to the men of Sector Seven. Their resolve was strong, even though they twinged with apprehension, and Jaster sent them strength and reassurance as best he could. <em>Help is on the way!</em>, he heard one of them yell, as if he was there. Satisfied, Jaster brought himself back to the bridge.</p><p>           Anakin’s comm blinked a steady rhythm. “He’s there,” Hound said, and Jaster nodded. “Pull up the feed. Let’s see how this goes.”</p><p>           The bridge sprung up in holo-form. They could see clones and droids on either side of a widening gulf, and Master Kenobi out leading the charge. The battle looked as if it was losing, but Jaster knew better. Once Anakin’s forces dealt with the tactical droid, the tide would turn.</p><p>           And there Anakin was, although it was troubling that none of his men were with him. Jaster didn’t know this part of the plan, that had required some adaptation on the ground. Yet as soon as Jaster began to grow concerned, he noticed Anakin, now kneeling on a piece of exposed road with his back to the droids.</p><p>           He chuckled, and leaned over to Hound and Yularen. “Look at him,” Jaster said.</p><p>           “What is the General doing now?” said Yularen, but his lips quirked up.</p><p>           “That crazy Jedi,” Hound laughed. “Look at General Kenobi, I think he’d rather die than have Skywalker show him up again.”</p><p>           One of the clone analysts leaned in. It was Quill, of the 362<sup>nd</sup>, who Jaster had promoted to lieutenant just weeks ago. “General, can we get audio? I’ve got to hear this.”</p><p>           “Working on it!” said somebody, who had disappeared under the console.</p><p>           Anakin was walking out toward the droids now, and the men around Jaster were all but giggling. The droids ceased fire, and trained all their guns toward him.</p><p>           Yularen spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “He is prophesized to be your Chosen One, yes?”</p><p>           “Yes, Admiral.”</p><p>           “Exactly how does that stop him from being blown apart?”</p><p>           “That’s still under investigation,” Jaster said. “But it seems to.”</p><p>           Yularen snorted. The audio snapped on, and Anakin’s voice filled the bridge, offering surrender to the droids. The men howled with laughter, and Jaster nearly broke his Knightly veneer of seriousness to join them. “Look at Kenobi!” someone shouted, pointing to where they could just make out the exasperation on the High General’s face. “Look at Kenobi!”</p><p>           As the men continued to appreciate Anakin’s eloquent waxing of the Droid Army’s backsides, Jaster caught a glimpse of the tactical droid. Immediately the plan snapped into place in his mind. He couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate Anakin’s ingenuity.</p><p>           “They’re under the bridge,” he said to Hound, and the Captain’s eyes went wide.</p><p>           “Who is? The 501<sup>st</sup>?”</p><p>           “That’s right. Watch.”</p><p>           Anakin reached out and pulled the tactical droid to him, and at once a swarm of clones rose from underneath the bridge. Within seconds, the droids fell into a full retreat. The men on the bridge whooped and cheered. Jaster let them have their moment, before he sent them back to their work.</p><p>           A signal beeped on the console, the one that signalled an incoming long-range transition. Jaster raised an eyebrow, but answered.</p><p>           Ahsoka sprung up into view.</p><p>           She looked down at him, and he at her. “Jaster,” she said, and she smiled softly. “Is it just you?”</p><p>           “Obi-Wan and Anakin are planetside,” he said. “Do you need to speak to them?”</p><p>           “Yes, but I’m glad I caught you first.”</p><p>           Jaster turned to Admiral Yularen. “Contact them, will you?”</p><p>           “Tell them it’s Fulcrum,” Ahsoka said. “I don’t want Anakin getting overexcited, he’ll come in too fast and crash in the hangar.”</p><p>           Jaster grinned. “You’re right about that.”</p><p>           “I know.”</p><p>           They looked each other up and down. Unlike the rest of the Order, Jaster had been in continued contact with Ahsoka, but only through quick and mostly coded letters they’d sent back and forth when they got the chance. They had hardly seen each other, even in holo-form, since she left. Both of them were older, now. Older still, in their minds and in the Force.</p><p>           “What’s wrong?”</p><p>           “I’m still with the Night Owls,” she said. She ushered a Mandalorian into the frame. “This is Bo-Katan, the one I keep talking about in the letters.”</p><p>           “A pleasure,” Jaster said, and the Mandalorian nodded back.</p><p>           “We’re on Concord Dawn now. In a hideout, keeping what watch we can on Sundari.”</p><p>           “Maul’s returned there?”</p><p>           “Yes.”</p><p>           “So you’re close, then. It’s time to catch him.”</p><p>           “Very close to it. We could use some help, though, with our numbers still relatively low in comparison to his.”</p><p>           “I understand.”</p><p>           “How are things there?”</p><p>           Jaster grinned. “You just missed Anakin surrendering to the droids.” </p><p>           “He did what?”</p><p>           “I’ll send you the holo, I’m sure it’s saved somewhere. The more I work with him, the more I understand why you’re such a cocky bastard too.”</p><p>           Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “I’ll remember that,” she said, but it was with good humor for both of them. She shifted a bit. “So…you’re sure they’ll want to hear from me?”</p><p>           “Certain.”</p><p>           “Okay.”</p><p>           “And you know you don’t want to come back.”</p><p>           “I’m not so sure,” Ahsoka said. “I think I’ll know once Maul has been dealt with. I’ve been feeling more and more ready, recently.”</p><p>           “After the war?”</p><p>           “Maybe. Or maybe the moment I deliver Maul to the Council.”</p><p>           “That’s encouraging!”</p><p>           She pursed her lips. “I know,” she said. “Just…don’t tell Anakin. Not yet.”</p><p>           “That’s your secret, not mine.”</p><p>           Ahsoka smiled. “I knew I could count on you.”</p><p>           Admiral Yularen returned to them. “The Generals are on their way.”</p><p>           “Thank you, Admiral.”</p><p>           “Of course.” The man hesitated, for just a moment. “It’s good to have you with us again, Lady Tano.”</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Jaster had left the console to Master Obi-Wan and Anakin, when they’d arrived. After all, their victory had left thousands of clones available for reassignment around the planet, and the other battles still demanded a General’s attention. But he’d known immediately it had gone well; Master Obi-Wan coming to find him, and for a moment all but collapsing into an embrace, was all he needed, especially with Anakin running off somewhere and having not been seen for a full hour. They’d gone to receive her in the hangar, and then once they’d all finished in the war room, Master Obi-Wan had come again to brief Jaster on what had happened. The Council wasn’t answering their calls, which Jaster supposed made sense, but it gave them an opportunity to plan next steps. And in the privacy of the two of them, where both understood that every word could be taken back if the situation demanded it, Master Obi-Wan had made it very clear he had no intention of waiting for the Council’s approval if they continued to be out of communication.</p><p>           “We will depart for Mandalore immediately,” he said, the war room now empty except for the two of them. They could hear the buzzing around them on the bridge, as their officers continued to coordinate the planetary offensive. “I will give the Council three hours standard to get back to us, but I cannot give any more than that. The capture of Maul is too important.”</p><p>           “I agree,” said Jaster. “But what about Yerbana? We cannot afford to lose all our progress here.”</p><p>           “How far are we from victory?”</p><p>           “With the forces we’ve got right now? Two days, at the most. But that’s far too long to wait.”</p><p>           “I agree.”</p><p>           The two of them sat quiet, for a moment. Jaster so badly didn’t want to speak the words he knew came next, to lose out on a true reunion with Ahsoka and potentially miss the capture of Maul, but it was his duty.</p><p>           “I could…finish things out, here on Yerbana,” Jaster said. “You go. Take Anakin and Ahsoka with you. Maul is more important, but we have the manpower to be able to handle both.”</p><p>           “I hate the idea of splitting our forces,” Master Obi-Wan said. “And what can be accomplished, with only half the troops currently available to you?”</p><p>           “It will take a bit longer. A week, perhaps. But I believe we can still achieve victory, and when we do, I’ll shift our remaining forces to Mandalore if the conflict there is still ongoing.</p><p>           “It will be difficult. The droids may win back some of what we’ve already captured, and then where will you be?”</p><p>           “The tactical droid is gone,” Jaster said. “They won’t mount a coherent offensive, at least not one with any teeth to it. And with that neutralized, we can grind down the rest of the droid forces until we can claim true victory.”</p><p>           “You’re sure of this.”</p><p>           “Reasonably. Anything can change, on their side, but so, too, can it change on ours. For all I know, one of the nearby worlds will have been liberated by tomorrow, and that army can shift here to support.”</p><p>           “I suppose you’re right. Now, as for which troops we allocate-“</p><p>           The terminal beeped to signal another long-range transmission.</p><p>           “The Council,” said Master Obi-Wan, and he accepted the call. Master Windu’s form appeared before them, but he was looking away, saber drawn, clearly in the heat of battle.</p><p>           “Mace,” said Master Obi-Wan. “Aren’t you-“</p><p>           “On Coruscant,” Master Windu confirmed. “Grievous did it. He found the Nexus Route, and he’s launched an invasion. The Capitol Defense Fleet and the Coruscant Guard are doing the best they can, but we need support, now.”</p><p>           “The Senate?”</p><p>           “Master Ti has been dispatched to protect the Chancellor, but her comms went dark several minutes ago. Efforts are ongoing to secure the Senators and see them to shelter.”</p><p>           “What can we do?” Master Obi-Wan was deadly serious, now.</p><p>           “Do what you have to do in order to ensure your campaign’s success. But we need every available resource on Coruscant, now. We need you, Obi-Wan, and we need Anakin, too.”</p><p>           Master Windu spared them a nod, and cut the transmission.</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan was already at a dead sprint from the bridge, and Jaster joined him. “What do you want to do?” Jaster said.</p><p>           “Split the 212<sup>th</sup>. You and Hound close things out here. I’m sorry, Jaster, but the 501<sup>st</sup> must come with us in its entirety.”</p><p>           “And Mandalore?”</p><p>           “I will speak to Ahsoka. She must understand that we have more important problems right now.”</p><p>           Jaster shook his head. “Maul will escape.”</p><p>           “He will resurface eventually. If this is what we must sacrifice to save Coruscant, then so be it.”</p><p>           “I understand, Master.”</p><p>           They came to the Venator’s central hallway, the one that would lead them to the hangar. Master Obi-Wan spoke again. “Take the <em>Negotiator</em> and her support ships. You will have to make do with far fewer forces than we wanted. Can you do it?”</p><p>           “I will hold the planet in stalemate for as long as I can. Once Coruscant is safe, the 501<sup>st</sup> can come back and tie things up. And if Coruscant is lost, Yerbana won’t matter anyway.”</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan nodded, and they came to the fork in the corridor where both knew they would need to part ways. “You are a capable General, Jaster, and a great Jedi. I have faith that you will see a resolution to things here.”</p><p>           “Thank you, Master. Be safe on Coruscant.”</p><p>           “May the Force be with you,” they said together, and then Obi-Wan went running to Anakin and Ahsoka. Jaster took the briefest of moments to send them warmth in the Force, and then as battle sirens started around him, he took off in his own direction.</p><p>           He spoke into his bracer commlink. “Hound! We’re headed to the <em>Negotiator</em>. Tell the troops on the ground that the 501<sup>st</sup> needs to come back to the <em>Resolute</em> fleet at once, along with half the 212<sup>th</sup>. Leave our officers on the planet. Tell them to hold their lines, and I’ll give further instruction when I can.”</p><p>           He burst into one of the side hangars, running now at a full clip. His comm lit up again. “Yes?”</p><p>           It was Anakin. “Tell the crew of the <em>Steadfast</em> to prepare for Ahsoka’s arrival. She and Torrent Company are going to Mandalore.”</p><p>           “Torrent Company? All of it?”</p><p>           “Most of it! We’ll be splitting three ways, not two.”</p><p>           Jaster grimaced at the logistical nightmare of creating three subfleets <em>and</em> holding every Yerbanii line while he did it, but he nodded. “Whatever you say. May the Force be with you.”</p><p>           Jaster cut off the connection, and flagged down a gunship set to depart for the <em>Negotiator</em>, crammed tight with members of the 212<sup>th</sup>. It idled for him and waited till he got on board. The men around him felt tense, in the Force, as if they, too, knew the difficult campaign to come. Jaster reached out to them in a much smaller application of battle meditation, just enough to steel their nerves and his own. He reached up for the overhead grip, and as the ship lifted and the doors swung shut, he began to feel the weight of Yerbana on his shoulders.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Two Days before Knightfall.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A couple of quick notes:</p><p>While I'm sure there's probably something in Dark Disciple about what Ventress is doing 3 months before Knightfall (is she dead? She might be dead), I think it's safe to say dear Jaster wouldn't have been privy to it. But, then, maybe that added to the Council's surprise when she showed up during his Trials. The Order did use simulacrums of notable Jedi and Sith to test potential Knights, but I doubt even they are big enough assholes to put a Jedi-killer who had literally just been killing Jedi into the Trials for Knights who, in turn, might end up actually facing that same Jedi-Killer.</p><p>Also, as a more general observation, it's always occurred to me that as dashing and heroic as Anakin and Obi-Wan are, they really do have a way of leaving half-finished, very important battlefields in their wake when Mace or Sheevyboi give them a ring. In the words of General Grievous: ENOUGH OF THIS!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Order 66</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In which everything changes.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Eight Minutes before Knightfall.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>           Jaster tried to block out the explosions and the screaming around him, as his men tried desperately to shield themselves from yet another mortar volley. He did his best to reach out to the Force around him, and then recoiled from it almost immediately, overwhelmed by the pain he felt from the rest of the 212<sup>th</sup>. Jaster shook his head to clear himself of the fog he felt. His saber was held to his chest, unlit.</p><p>           He stood, although he kept his head just below the lip of the trench they’d formed. “Hound!” he had to scream, and carry his voice past a hundred brothers. “Are the charges planted yet in Sector Three?”</p><p>           “Yes! Just got word!”</p><p>           “Have the boys blow the bridge, and pull out! They can come back here and overwhelm the droids.”</p><p>           The battle had turned ugly, after Master Obi-Wan and the others had pulled out. Three fronts were already abandoned. Now that Jaster had left a fourth, the remaining stalemates would be easier to hold, and he hoped he’d even be able to extricate himself from this situation. But he and Hound were in hand-dug trenches on one side of yet another long bridge, and thousands of droids held the other end, and without immediate support they would be forced to stay. This was the sort of attrition he could not afford, not now, not with a quarter of his men.</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan was engaging Grievous on Utapau, he knew that. Ahsoka had stopped Maul, and was bringing him back—somehow. Jaster would need to give her a great deal of praise for having managed that. Apparently, Anakin was back on Coruscant, on the Council, and between that news and Ahsoka’s, Jaster was unsure which one shocked him more. Two days had changed a great deal.</p><p>           A small group of reinforcements reached them from the rear, and they slid over the soil to take their places. One of the clones nodded to him.</p><p>           “General!”</p><p>           “Trooper,” Jaster said, and they all took cover for another volley of mortars. “Where have you all come from?”</p><p>           “The Admiral said we could come down! Ship’s on a skeleton crew, though, looks like we’ll be the last ones sent over for a while.”</p><p>           Jaster grimaced. Yularen was doing his best, he knew that, and truly, Jaster was grateful the man had volunteered to stay with him. But if Yularen was so worried, that meant the planet hung by a string. It could be lost at any moment.</p><p>           “Understood.” Jaster stood up, and ignited his blade. “Gentlemen!” he said. “I’m going up for a look! Cover me!”</p><p>           The clones whooped and cheered, and Jaster was on solid ground in a moment. Immediately the droids targeted him, and through dust and dusk he spun his blade in a net around himself. Nothing hit him. He peered through the clouds, just barely making out some of the larger droid artillery across the bridge, which itself was no-man’s-land.</p><p>           Without warning, a sharp pain filled his head, and something erupted through the Force.</p><p>           His blade slowed. A blaster bolt slipped through and caught him under the arm. Luckily, it glanced off the clone armor he wore beneath his outer tunic, but it took his breath away. The men below saw, and a couple of them reached up. They grabbed him and pulled him back to safety.</p><p>           “Something’s wrong,” Jaster said. His head pulsed, and he closed his eyes. His awareness swam with voices he couldn’t quite make out. The Force felt wrong, even more so than it had felt for the entire war. It felt muddy, and thick with pain. It dulled from his awareness. For a moment he feared it would leave him completely, but it held on.</p><p>           He opened his eyes and realized the men were calling to him. “I’m alright, I’m alright,” he said. He pushed away a medic. “It glanced.”</p><p>           “What’s wrong, then? Sir?”</p><p>           “Not that. Not with me. It’s bigger.”</p><p>           The men looked at each other. “Bigger, sir?”</p><p>           Hound ran to them, trying his best to stoop under the lip of the trench. “General! There’s a transmission. Admiral says it’s urgent.”</p><p>           “Can you take it?” Jaster said. He sucked air through his teeth and tried to block out the ringing that filled his ears.</p><p>           “Yes. Are you hurt?”</p><p>           “I’ll be fine. Just see what they say.”</p><p>           “Yes, sir!”</p><p>           Hound went back across the trench, and Jaster managed to pull up his mental shields enough to block out most of the darkness he felt. He heaved himself up the wall until he was standing again. The men next to him helped him get steady.</p><p>           The Force screamed, and his shields shattered inward.</p><p>           Jaster gasped. A burst of mortar fire echoed around them. The trench itself seemed to shudder.</p><p>           He forced himself to yell. “Hold the line!” Jaster staggered forward. “I’ll be back in a moment,” he said, to nobody in particular.</p><p>           He got himself to a bit of trench they’d dug away and hung a curtain over, to use as a latrine. The Force was throbbing with pain and loss. He could feel his own bonds strained, with friends and old mentors and those he knew across the Order.</p><p>           <em>Danger</em>, the Force hissed. Then louder, far more urgent. <em>DANGER!</em></p><p>By instinct, Jaster ignited his saber and spun back toward the main trench. He stopped, genuinely surprised, as one of the clones fell away from him with a cut clean through his waist. The man’s blaster had been out. Pointed at him.</p><p>           “Chummy’s down!”</p><p>           Blasterfire lit up the walls beside him. It was blue. It was the 212<sup>th</sup>.</p><p>           Jaster leaned forward and threw both hands out to either side, down the trench. He let loose a wave in the Force that knocked his men to the ground. But more came from either side. From the right came Hound.</p><p>           “Hound!” Jaster yelled, stepping out to face him. “What’s going on?”</p><p>           “Open fire!”</p><p>           Jaster just barely ducked back in time to avoid another hail of blaster bolts. Fear rose in his chest. He clutched his saber to his abdomen, unlit, and racked his brain for an explanation.</p><p>           There was none, and escape would have to do.</p><p>           Against every pull of his instinct, he launched himself over the wall of the trench and into enemy fire. His head pounded with the anguish from across the Force, but he weaved again through droid fire. The clones began to come up after him, and they showed no regard for the enemy until most of the first ones over had been cut down. Jaster pushed the survivors back down to the trench and kept going, backing away. The land sloped downward a bit behind him, enough that after a few moments the droid fire went above his head. But by then Hound was up and out of the trench, along with the rest of the men, and they were belly-crawling toward him. One by one, they stopped to take potshots, and while their frequency of fire was low enough that Jaster could keep up, their aim was damn good.</p><p>           They began to get down below the droids’ fire, and when they did, they stood up to chase him. Jaster felt panic rising in his throat, and he lashed out with one final Force push. His saber returned to his waist, and he ran off into the fog before they could regain their feet.</p><p>           He didn’t pause to turn or look back for a while. The highlands of Yerbana were still covered in trees, and a mess of rock formations and sudden ravines made it difficult for most beings to navigate. Jaster sought out the obstacles and relied on the Force to find ways past them, ways he knew his men would not be able to use. When an especially large tree appeared from the mist, he jumped to its highest branches, and took shelter there.</p><p>           Something was deeply wrong. He could feel death around him, and across the Galaxy, like it had felt when Master Oppo died except somehow even worse.</p><p>           He tried the comm on his bracer. His men’s voices mixed together in a babble, and he picked out what information he could.</p><p>           “No sign of the Jedi in Area One.”</p><p>           “Any clone caught conspiring with a Jedi will be subject to Order 66.”</p><p>           “Lock down every ship and every speeder. The Jedi will be coming for them.”</p><p>           Jaster switched it off.</p><p>           They were going to kill him, if they saw him. That was clear.</p><p>           He reeled mentally through every training manual and policy he’d read. He didn’t recall any Order 66.</p><p>           The Force was clear, in its anguish. Jedi were dying. That much was clear. Order 66 meant their deaths, and his.</p><p>           The clones knew him better than he did, apparently, and realized too quickly that his first instinct would be to get off-planet.</p><p>           But not every trooper under Jaster’s command was a clone.</p><p>           He keyed in the secure command code he shared with Admiral Yularen. The Admiral accepted his transmission.</p><p>           “General Vigil,” Admiral Yularen said. He looked visibly distressed. “Are you safe?”</p><p>           “For now.”</p><p>           The Admiral looked around, and appeared satisfied with what he saw. “I must urge you to turn yourself in. Is it true, what they say?”</p><p>           “What are they saying?”</p><p>           “That the Jedi have turned against the Republic, and attempted to assassinate the Chancellor.”</p><p>           “What? Admiral, I-“</p><p>           “I understand you Jedi have your secrets, but you must turn yourself in if it’s true.</p><p>           “It isn’t! I don’t understand-“</p><p>           The Force twinged around Jaster, and he followed its pull. Headlamps shone through the fog, and a walker close behind. Clones.</p><p>           Jaster looked back down to Yularen. “I shouldn’t have called.”</p><p>           “No, Master Jedi, you shouldn’t have. Turn yourself in, and they will not harm you.”</p><p>           The Force screamed out, but Jaster didn’t need such a warning to know that was a lie. “You’re a traitor, Admiral.”</p><p>           “I am loyal to my Empire. I could not say the same for the Jedi.”</p><p>           Jaster ripped off the bracer. The clones were getting nearer, but it looked like a small group, for now.</p><p>           He crept along the tree branches until he was directly over the one on the walker. He lowered himself down slowly till he hung by his fingertips. Then he dropped and landed exactly how he needed to, on the helmet of the clone operator just right to knock him unconscious but preserve his life.</p><p>           By the time the other clones turned to look, Jaster had the walker in his control, and saber ignited, he swatted off blasterfire and rode off into the night.</p><p>           There were numerous supply depots around the areas they controlled, but even more promising were the individual starfighters. Jaster had ordered many of them to land nearby, under tree cover, so that the fighter crews could come aid in the trenches and then return for bombing runs as needed. With any luck, some might remain.</p><p>           One of them came into view, a lone ARC-170 guarded by several troopers. Jaster deactivated the walker and snuck closer. All of the clones were shinies, and none of their armor marked them as a pilot. But knowing his men, those who could fly this ship were rushing back to get it to the Venator. He couldn’t afford to wait.</p><p>           Jaster ignited his saber and threw it at the closest clone, spearing it into his abdomen. The others reacted, but Jaster allowed himself to rely on his Shien, and it proved profoundly effective. The clones’ own blaster bolts ricocheted into their chests, and not ten seconds passed before they were dealt with.</p><p>           Jaster took the starfighter’s front seat. It was a three-seater, but it could be flown by a single pilot in either of the forward cockpit positions in a pinch. More importantly, it had its own hyperdrive.</p><p>           There was no movement from the forest when Jaster brought it up, and he slipped past the slower air patrols with ease. But it wasn’t long until other starfighters had caught on, and he leaned on the throttle for it to carry him up out of the atmosphere. Behind him, two of the same ship took aim at his rear, but the shields held and Jaster took no damage.</p><p>           He didn’t wait to attract the attention of the Venators. Instead, the moment his indicators showed he was clear of Yerbana’s orbit floor, he launched himself into hyperspace and left the planet behind.</p><p>           He didn’t allow himself to breathe a full breath until he’d completed four additional short, blind jumps, all less than a minute but enough to get him several light-years away from his fleet in a direction not even he really knew.</p><p>           And once he’d done that, and set himself adrift in deep space, he couldn’t help but take a few long minutes and let the horror of it all wash over him.</p><p>           The Force didn’t scream anymore. It ached, and it felt numb, all at the same time. It felt like what the clones had described, when he’d been there with them in the aftermath of lost limbs.</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan was the first one he tried to raise on the comms. Nothing. He probed the Force, and while his training bond didn’t feel hollow like the one he’d had with Master Oppo, it also was nowhere near as old or as deep. Then, he tried Ahsoka, and there was yet more static. Finally Anakin, but Anakin was at the Temple, and no wound in the Force could feel this big if the Temple had survived. The Temple couldn’t have survived, if the Jedi were accused of treason. Anakin would not have survived.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           “Anakin! I told you it would come to this! The Jedi are taking over!”</p><p>           Anakin felt numb. Palpatine—no, Sidious—the Sith had fooled them all. And Windu had beaten him. But Sidious could stop the visions. Sidious had to be stopped.</p><p>           “The oppression of the Sith will never return,” Windu snarled. Anakin felt the words, rather than heard them, and they felt wrong. Windu felt wrong. “Your plot to regain control of the Republic is over. You have lost.”</p><p>           The two of them, together, could contain Sidious. If Windu alone had done it, then surely, with Anakin to take the lead now they could-</p><p>           He hadn’t been listening, and he was shocked when Sith lightning burst forth from Sidious. It nearly engulfed Windu. Windu turned it back on Sidious, and they began to melt each other. They were <em>melting</em> each other.</p><p>           Sidious was the key. Without him, Padme would die, the Force had insisted it. There was no other explanation for how clear it all had been.</p><p>           Sidious had betrayed them all. Sidious had just cut down three of the Jedi’s best.</p><p>           Without Anakin, Windu might be overwhelmed too.</p><p>           “Don’t listen to him, Anakin!”</p><p>           Sidious had been saying something to him. They both had. They both needed his help. Sidious was the key to Padme.</p><p>           Sidious was withering. Anakin could see it, as his face sunk and contorted.</p><p>But at the back of his mind, something itched in the Force, and he listened to it. Anakin had felt lightning, so many times. It had never melted him, like Sidious was melting himself now.</p><p>           Perhaps Sidious was far more powerful than Dooku. Perhaps this was what Sidious had always been.</p><p>           No. He couldn’t have fooled Anakin.</p><p>           But he’d fooled Obi-Wan, and Yoda.</p><p>           The lightning was gone, now, and Windu stood over Sidious triumphant. “I am going to end this. Once and for all.”</p><p>           “You can’t!” Anakin said, and the words felt ripped from his throat. “He must stand trial!”</p><p>           “He has control of the Senate, and the Courts! He is too dangerous to be kept alive!”</p><p>           Sidious was the key to Padme.</p><p>           Sidious had to survive.</p><p>           Windu looked over at him. No—Mace looked over at him.</p><p>           “Anakin,” Mace said, and Anakin tore his eyes off Sidious. Mace looked nowhere near as bad as Sidious, but he’d taken a severe lashing from the lightning as well. Nothing of his face had melted away. It wasn’t right.</p><p>           “Anakin,” Mace said again. This time, his voice sounded different. Almost like Qui-Gon’s had. “Anakin. You were a slave once. Do not let him make you a slave again.”</p><p>           Something shifted in Anakin. He reached up to the back of his head, where his old chip-scar had all but faded. Obedience, on threat of death.</p><p>           Sidious was the key.</p><p>           Sidious was the key to the visions. Not to Padme.</p><p>           Sidious was the key to the lies, and the war, and all of it. Sidious had known what nobody had known.</p><p>           Sidious was strong, in the Force, stronger than nearly anyone, and Sidious had hidden himself—that corpse of a person—without fail.</p><p>           Mace stood there before him, the same angry, disappointed, arrogant, blind attempt at a mentor he’d always been.</p><p>           But Mace wasn’t a slavemaster. Not like the ones Anakin knew.</p><p>           Anakin loved Palpatine, deeply. But before Qui-Gon had come, Anakin would have said he loved Watto, too.</p><p>           Anakin ignited his saber. He shared a long moment’s pause with Mace. The man searched his eyes, uncertain.</p><p>           And then Anakin turned toward Sidious. All of them understood.</p><p>           The Force guided Anakin’s blade and drew it across his body, just in time to meet a torrent of lightning even greater than Sidious had yet produced. Immediately, he and Mace were thrown back halfway across the ledge. They dug their boots in and strained to meet it.</p><p>           “Skywalker!” Mace yelled, above the roar of the electricity. “Can you hold him?”</p><p>           Anakin only gritted his teeth.</p><p>           Sidious rose to his feet as if lifted by strings. The Sith Master’s eyes shone bright gold, and his face opened in a lipless snarl.</p><p>           The lightning shook Anakin’s saber-hilt in his hand, and try as he might, he could not bring his weapon around without tremendous effort. Mace, beside him, fared no better. The three of them were locked together.</p><p>           Sidious was screaming now. “Power! Power!” Every time he said it, the Force seemed to favor him more and more, as if it were simply his moment.</p><p>           Sidious would have killed Mace, with or without Anakin. He saw that now. It had all been a play, spun together for him and only him.</p><p>           “Skywalker! Hold firm!” Mace shouted, and he heaved his saber in Anakin’s direction. With only that warning, the momentum of his swing carried Sidious’ lightning and his hand, and then the entire magnitude of his assault was transferred over to Anakin’s blade.</p><p>           Sidious’ eyes widened as Mace leapt into the air, blade primed to cleave him in two. But he disengaged Anakin, and in Mace’s moment of confidence, the Sith Master went to intercept him. He dodged Mace’s blade, and one hand wrapped around both of the Jedi’s own. The other caught him by the throat.</p><p>           Sidious roared in the Force and loosed his lightning again. With no space at all between the two of them, Mace couldn’t stop it, and Anakin could only watch his skeleton shine out of his skin.</p><p>           Sidious let go, and waved his hand casually. Mace’s body was swept from the window, lifeless.</p><p>           The Sith turned back to Anakin.</p><p>           “And now, young Skywalker.”</p><p>           He lifted his hands, slowly.</p><p>           “You will become mine.”</p><p>           There was no escape. Anakin raised his blade, but alone against Sidious, the lightning nearly blew it out of his hands.</p><p>           Anakin drew on the Force, trying to pull from deeper within himself than he had ever gone. To find that thing that made him the Chosen One, that was prophesized to bring balance, in this very moment.</p><p>           There was nothing.</p><p>           Instead, the storm before him only grew, until it reached past his blade and overwhelmed him. He was thrown back against the Sith Lord’s crimson walls, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.</p><p>           The room was quiet.</p><p>           Sidious listened, as the echoes of his Force storm faded away.</p><p>           Then he stepped to his desk, and pressed the button that called the Coruscant Guard.</p><p>           “Commander Fox,” he said. He heard his voice, for the first time in years, as it was meant to sound, speaking through his mouth and with the voice of the Force itself. “Enter.”</p><p>           It was not a moment before the door hissed open. Fox and his subordinates rushed inside. Sidious appreciated greatly how they knew to kneel, and showed no notice of Skywalker, discarded in the corner.</p><p>           “The Mandalorian chamber that was delivered to you. Do you have it?”</p><p>           “Yes, sir. We prepared it, as instructed.”</p><p>           “It will contain him.” Sidious turned his head to Skywalker, and they followed. “Inside it, he will be nothing but a man.”</p><p>           “I understand, sir.”</p><p>           “See him contained. My aides will instruct you further.”</p><p>           “Right away, Chancellor.”</p><p>           Sidious darkened, in the Force. He wondered if the clones understood the nature of the cold they must be feeling. “Emperor.”</p><p>           “Right away, Emperor.”</p><p>           “And Fox,” Sidious said. “Alert Commander Appo. I will require his presence at the Jedi Temple, shortly.”</p><p>          </p><p>* * * * *</p><p>          </p><p>           A few lucky Jedi had happened to be close enough to outward windows that they’d seen, when the clones arrived. It was a cut through the Coruscant landscape, seven men across but well over a thousand long, and they did not guess correctly why the legion had arrived.</p><p>           The Gatemaster, Jurokk, understood when he saw the figure at its head. He could not see who it was—though the being, hooded as it may have been, looked directly at him, the space where its face should have been was obscured. The Force itself seemed to knot up in just the right spot, so that matter itself twisted and shimmered into a fine grey mist that spilled out from the hood in wisps and tendrils. But Jurokk did not need to know its identity. This was the Sith Master. It had to be.</p><p>           Jurokk ignited his blade, but he could do nothing to stop the Sith Master from lifting its hand and ensnaring his throat. The Sith Master throttled him, and his Temple Guards behind him, and didn’t break his pace even as the clones set into a run and passed him by. That was the last Jurokk saw of anything.</p><p>           The Sith Master broke into a run himself, when he felt that the Gatemaster was dead. Twin sabers emerged from his cloak, and sprung crimson in his hands. He laughed—no, he cackled—no, he threw his voice outward in the Force, so that every Jedi could hear it and know he came.</p><p>           He carved through the Jedi that tried to oppose him, their learners and their beloved Knights. Those who tried to stop one blade were skewered by the other, and those who tried to strike him first found cuts opened across their bodies before they could understand what had happened. Those that charged him in groups found themselves awash in lightning, and those who seemed to possess noticeable power took his attention, gripped by the face with both of his hands until their Force energy was drained into him.</p><p>           One of the Masters came forth to try and stop him, Drallig, and the Sith Master readied himself for a fight. He was sorely disappointed with the quality of opposition. Drallig blocked a few wild swings of the Sith Master’s blade, and managed to launch a powerful cleave of his own, but a stab through his heart caught him by surprise. The cadre of apprentices that had come in his wake could do nothing Drallig couldn’t, to stand against him.</p><p>           The Sith Master found his way, after not too long, to the Council chamber, where he had stood many times to wheedle and play his own fool. To facilitate their blindness, as humiliating as it had been. But this time, none rushed to meet him…except children, panicked, hoping beyond hope that he might be one of the teachers they held so dear.</p><p>           The Sith Master did not hesitate to roast them all with outstretched fingers.</p><p>           He threw back his head, and screamed his triumph, and the walls of the Council tower blew away in an explosion of brilliant Force light.</p><p>           There was to be no mercy. The Jedi had fallen.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Knightfall.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well, there you have it. We'll be diverging entirely from the standard plotline here, although many old and beloved faces will emerge.</p><p>This was the most difficult chapter to write, by far, and I can't say I loved how the latter two scenes turned out. Hopefully, after I think on them a while longer, I'll figure out a way to do some rewrites that can still keep us in line with the story. I don't love either Anakin's or Sidious' perspectives, and I look forward to improving the work in order to do them more justice.</p><p>A small note: The chamber Sidious asks for, for Anakin, is the same as we see Bo-Katan imprison Maul in the Clone Wars finale arc. I know she stated that it was the last of its kind, but I do feel it's likely that SOMEbody in the Banite line managed to get their hands on at least one. Probably Cognus; I'm sure she must have kidnapped at least one Council member in her day and put them through horrible things.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the delay! Hoping to have more done, now that things are calmed down a bit in the life of Mulcibre, yours truly. Let me know what you think--a good comment is ALWAYS appreciated.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>One Hour after Knightfall</em>.</p><p> </p><p>           Anakin felt their hands on him, first, like a vice under each of his armpits. His knees skimmed the ground. He was being brought somewhere.</p><p>           Memory flooded back. Mace was dead, Palpatine was the Sith Master, Anakin hadn’t been able to stop him. He wasn’t the Chosen One, after all, and Palpatine had won in the end. Sidious had won.</p><p>           For a few moments, even before he’d opened his eyes or moved so much as a finger, he was consumed. <em>Shame-guilt-fear-not enough-never enough-failure </em>ran through his mind on repeat. He had failed Padme, he had failed Obi-Wan, he had failed his mother and Qui-Gon and Ahsoka and Mace probably most of all. The Galaxy could burn, and it would be nobody’s fault but his. If the burning had already started, then all the better, so that Anakin could be immersed in it. He deserved to die in his own mess, if indeed he had created it.</p><p>           But his knees were still dragging, and they scraped against hard concrete. The air smelled of outdoors. He was being brought somewhere.</p><p>           He expanded his awareness outward, through the Force-</p><p>           No, no, that was a mistake. His head was pounding, now, and every part of him that had hurt before now felt like it had been cauterized and cut through again. The Force was wounded like Anakin had never felt it. The entire planet—kark, the entire Force was a wound, gaping and ragged. The Dark Side spilled out of it. The pain was close to unbearable.</p><p>           Anakin gritted his teeth, like he always did when faced with unbearable pain he needed to bear. He would have to work without awareness in the Force.</p><p>           He took a chance and opened his eyes just a hair. He was right, he was being dragged over tarmac. It looked like any other tarmac.</p><p>           The boots marching ahead of him were red. Coruscant Guard. He was Sidious’ prisoner, then.</p><p>           Seemed about right.</p><p>           He heard more of them. Ten, twelve sets of footsteps.</p><p>           He opened himself to the Force again, just a touch. Darkness poured through and onto him, and he closed the valve. He could utilize it, that wasn’t impossible…but it would bleed into him each time.</p><p>           He took another chance and raised his head. He lolled it side-to-side, to make it seem like he wasn’t really conscious.</p><p>           They were bringing him toward a box. It was taller than him, and wrought-metal, and the little window showed an interior of blood-red. More clones stood around it.</p><p>           Anakin knew the box. It was one of the Mandalorian ones, built to contain Jedi and cut them off from the Force. Once he was put into one of those, he’d be helpless.</p><p>           He shifted his ankle back and forth, in his left boot. His knife was still there, as it was supposed to be, and even though that wouldn’t be much use against clone armor, it was nice to know he had it.</p><p>           He was too close to the box, now. He had to act.</p><p>           Without warning, Anakin opened his eyes and snapped his head up. He swung his feet below him to kneel. Gritting his teeth again, he reached out to the Force, and threw his arms out to blow troopers right and left. He was lucky—as it turned out, the concrete they’d been dragging him over was built as a bridge. On either side, a mile-long fall into Coruscant, which unlucky clones were forced to undergo.</p><p>           The others reacted, of course.</p><p>           Anakin pulled his knife into one hand, and a blaster from one of the clones into the other. He dodged and slipped blaster bolts, returning fire with deadly accuracy. The clones closest to him dropped, and he had a moment to assess.</p><p>           The box was in front of a shuttle. He couldn’t fly that, if the clones controlled the airspace, and he simply didn’t know whether they did.</p><p>           In the other direction, there were more clones. Lots more, and they’d taken notice.</p><p>           With his blade, and with the Force on his side, Anakin probably could’ve done it. But now the best option was to jump.</p><p>           He threw himself over the side of the bridge, and guided his descent to intercept a speeder. As he fell, he ran through what he knew.</p><p>           Mace was dead. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were offworld. So was Yoda. Somebody needed to protect the Temple, and Master Drallig wouldn’t cut it.</p><p>           Anakin snagged a speeder, and though it pained him, he lifted the droid driver up and dropped it over the side. He’d build a new one later, to make up for it.</p><p>           He banked hard, and when he got into position, he could see smoke and fire rising from the Temple. He pushed the accelerator to the floor.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Obi-Wan cradled the child’s head, probing for any sense of life remaining in the Force. There was nothing, and it was all he could do not to cry out. Obi-Wan slid his fingers over the Initiate’s eyes, and laid him down. There were hundreds like this in the Temple. Shot dead.</p><p>           “Not even the Younglings survived.”</p><p>           Yoda grunted, next to him. “Killed not by clones, this Padawan. By a lightsaber, he was.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan shifted his eyes downward. “Sidious?”</p><p>           “Perhaps. Powerful, they were, the one who came here. Feel it, I still can. The rift in the Force, where they moved, it shows.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan lifted his head. Footsteps tromped down one of the side corridors. “Another patrol, Master.”</p><p>           “Hmm. Reach the command center, we must. To the underbelly, go, we may? And avoid clones that are likely to alert each other.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan nodded, and the two of them managed to duck into a passage just as the clone patrol would have spotted them.</p><p>           Yoda knew the secret routes through the Temple better than anybody, and he led the way for Obi-Wan. In some parts, the taller Jedi had to get down and worm his way through.</p><p>           Even here, evidence of the carnage remained. Holes pierced the walls and steel grating hung loose. In some places, sparks still shot off broken lights and torn-out wires.</p><p>           Just like everywhere else, there were frequently Younglings who had had the same idea. None lived.</p><p>           After a few minutes, they’d gone down enough floors that Yoda felt safe leading them out into the hallways. They then tracked down maintenance shafts and dropped lower, silently plotting a course to get across till they were just under the command center. The dead here were less frequent, on the lower levels.</p><p>           “Master,” Obi-Wan said. He hesitated. “I do not know if we will find survivors.”</p><p>           “Here, you mean?”</p><p>           “Yes, Master.”</p><p>           In that moment, Yoda looked older than Obi-Wan had ever seen him. “No,” he said. “No. In the Temple, survived, none have. Perhaps escaped, have some, but no one remains.”</p><p>           In that moment, they both froze, as they heard the sound of a far-off wail. They locked eyes.</p><p>           “Wrong, I was, perhaps.” Yoda took off running, and Obi-Wan kept pace beside him.</p><p>           They rounded the right corner, and they saw him.</p><p>           Anakin sat in the middle of the corridor, sobbing. He buried his face in his hands, and rocked back and forth.</p><p>           “What have I done?” he moaned, and he choked out another burst of emotion. “What have I done? Master…Master…what have I done?”</p><p>           Obi-Wan didn’t respond to that, although it took every bit of his restraint not to. Anakin didn’t think he was alive, let alone close enough to hear that.</p><p>           Yoda, however, held none of the same reservations. “Skywalker!”</p><p>           Anakin stopped immediately, and when he swung his head around, Obi-Wan was somewhat relieved not to see golden eyes. “M-master Yoda?” Anakin said, slowly.</p><p>           “Hurt, are you?” Yoda said, coming to his side. “Confront Sidious, did you? His odor, in the Force…feel it on you, I do.”</p><p>           “He was too much, Master,” Anakin said, just barely keeping himself from weeping. “He killed Master Windu. He killed all of them.”</p><p>           “All who? Who did Sidious kill?”</p><p>           “All of them!” Anakin shouted. He gestured around. “The Masters, the Younglings, the Padawans-“</p><p>           He saw Obi-Wan, and he froze.</p><p>           Obi-Wan held his hands out to the side. It was by instinct. It was the same thing he knew to do, when Anakin had in his eyes the feral look he had in that moment.</p><p>           “Anakin,” he said slowly. “We don’t yet understand what has happened-“</p><p>           “I couldn’t stop him!” Anakin said. He all but screamed it. “I’m so sorry, Obi-Wan, I’m so sorry. I’m not what you thought I was, I’m not what Master Qui-Gon thought-“</p><p>           “Anakin!”</p><p>           “He’s too powerful and I couldn’t stop him alone. He had me and I was blind and I couldn’t stop him, I couldn’t <em>see</em>-“</p><p>           “Anakin.” Obi-Wan forgot his inhibitions and knelt at Anakin’s side. He didn’t wait for permission to put a hand on Anakin’s shoulder, and when the younger man flinched away, he only squeezed tighter. “Anakin. Breathe, with me.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan made his breath loud, and slow, and obvious. It took Anakin a moment, wild-eyed and frenetic, but slowly he began to match Obi-Wan.</p><p>           “Skywalker,” Yoda said again, and this time Anakin seemed to process it. “Hurt, are you?”</p><p>           Anakin looked down. “No,” he said, and he sighed a heavy sigh. “I don’t think so.”</p><p>           “Hmm. Good, that is.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan frowned. “Does Sidious know you’re here?”</p><p>           “I escaped hours ago. Six or seven hours ago. He must have an idea where I am by now.”</p><p>           “Feel him, I do not,” said Yoda. “Something, that is, if only a small thing.”</p><p>           “I was going to the command center-“</p><p>           “To change the message,” said Obi-Wan. “The beacon. We had the same idea. Anakin, will you allow us to come with you?”</p><p>           Anakin frowned. He lifted up his knife, from next to him. “I only have this, and whatever blaster I find next.”</p><p>           Yoda sighed. He lifted a hand. From down the hallway, a lightsaber sprung up and away from a dead Knight, and came to him. Yoda ignited it; it was a deeper, darker blue than Anakin had used before.</p><p>           He extended the hilt. “Desperate times, these are, young Skywalker. Object to this, no Jedi would, in our time of great need.”</p><p>           “Master, it isn’t right-“</p><p>           “Right anymore, nothing is,” Yoda confirmed. “Take it, you must. Serve you, it will, for now.”</p><p>           Slowly, Anakin reached out and took the saber. He hooked it onto his belt.</p><p>           “We should move,” said Obi-Wan. “Can you walk?”</p><p>           “Yes.”</p><p>           “Then come on.”</p><p>           They didn’t encounter any other life along the way, even when they entered the command center. It made some sense; it would have been of little use to clone troopers, who lacked the Force-sensitivity to activate any of the instruments and confirm that the room was functional. They snuck in through the floor grate, and Obi-Wan could feel clones outside of each door, but none on the interior.</p><p>           He led the way to the message hub, and together they looked through the message that was being sent out now.</p><p>           Anakin shook with fury. “They’re leading Jedi to their deaths,” he whispered. His jaw set.</p><p>           “We must alter the message,” Obi-Wan said. “Can you prepare the station to record? I will create what we need. It will have to be enough.”</p><p>           “Wait.” Master Yoda lifted a hand. “Understand, I do. But you cannot.”</p><p>           “Master?”</p><p>           “Dead, you are. On Utapau.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan understood, and nodded gravely. “I understand, though I do feel it to be a price worth paying. If you disagree, Master, then it should be you.”</p><p>           Yoda’s ears drooped. “Agree, I do. But dead, I am, too. Killed me, my commander did, before killed him, the Wookiees did in revenge, hm?”</p><p>           Obi-Wan stared at the floor. He could feel Yoda’s eyes cutting into him. “Anakin,” he finally said.</p><p>           Anakin had been staring into nothing, and his body leapt as he came back into focus. “What?”</p><p>           “You must record a message for any surviving Jedi,” Obi-Wan said. “Master Yoda and I are presumed dead. Sidious knows you are alive.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan watched as that news passed through Anakin’s body, and eviscerated any last shred of hope or optimism that might have remained.</p><p>           “I’m so sorry,” Obi-Wan said. Maybe that mattered, he told himself.</p><p>           After a while, Anakin nodded. “It’s what must be done,” he said. “I’ll do it.”</p><p>           He recorded the message, and he turned to them when it was done. “Masters?” he said, and for the first time there was the slightest bit of strength in his voice.</p><p>           “Yes, Anakin?”</p><p>           “I couldn’t beat Sidious.”</p><p>           “Enough of this,” Yoda said immediately, and he shook his head. “Blame yourself, you must not. Carry guilt, you must not. Guilty, Sidious is, of a great and terrible deception.”</p><p>           “No, Master, that’s not it.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan leaned forward. “What is it, then, Anakin?”</p><p>           “I couldn’t beat him alone. The three of us might stand a chance.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan and Yoda pondered that for a minute.</p><p>           “Wrong, you may be,” Yoda said at last. “But correct, I think you are. Our opportunity, this may be, while Sidious still gloats on his victory.”</p><p>           Anakin nodded. “Follow me, Masters. I’ve got a way to him.”</p><p>          </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>           Jaster jerked himself awake. He checked the chrono, and confirmed that a full day had now passed since it had happened. The ARC-170 was still drifting in nowhere, and him along with it. There was nowhere to go.</p><p>           He checked the transmissions. One had come in, several hours prior. He had slept deeply, then, if he hadn’t registered when it arrived. He opened it.</p><p>           A text holo sprung up before him, from the Temple’s secure comms beacon.</p><p>           ALERT TO ALL MEMBERS AND ACOLYTES OF THE JEDI ORDER.</p><p>           WE HAVE BEEN ATTACKED ACROSS THE GALAXY.</p><p>           CLONES ON CAMPAIGN HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY A SEPARATIST VIRUS CAUSING THESE TROOPS TO TURN ON THEIR JEDI GENERALS.</p><p>           CORUSCANT HAS NOT BEEN IMPACTED. KAMINO HAS NOT BEEN IMPACTED.</p><p>           ALL SURVIVING JEDI WHO ARE ABLE MUST RETURN TO THE JEDI TEMPLE ON CORUSCANT AT ONCE. ANNOUNCE YOUR PRESENCE VIA SECURE CODE #5185. WE WILL SEND ESCORT FIGHTERS TO GUIDE YOU TO AN ESTABLISHED LANDING ZONE.</p><p>           JEDI IN WILD SPACE OR THE RISHI MAZE SHOULD GATHER AT KAMINO.</p><p>           MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU.</p><p>           Jaster read it all over again, with lips drawn tight, and eyes narrowed. It couldn’t be right. Not with the Force so broken as it was. Hours later…if the clones were so bent on attacking the Jedi, surely they’d have come for Coruscant by now. Or, somehow, the signal wouldn’t still be transmitted.</p><p>           As if on cue, a second transmission arrived. Jaster opened it, and his heart broke.</p><p>           “This is Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. I must report to you that both our Jedi Order, and the Republic, have fallen. Palpatine, Emperor Palpatine…Darth Sidious…deceived us, and a new Empire has risen where the Republic once stood.</p><p>“This message is a warning and a reminder for any Jedi who are still out there. Trust in the Force. Don’t try and come back to the Temple…that home has been lost, and our futures are all uncertain. What comes next, I can’t say, but it will be difficult. Our trust will be broken, our faith will be strained, and our friendships will not always be true. But we must survive. We can survive. Do not let them put you in chains.</p><p>“May the Force be with you.”</p><p>           Jaster reached up, and wiped tears from his eyes. He stopped himself from speaking, trying to speak out loud so that Obi-Wan or Anakin or Ahsoka could hear him. He closed his eyes, and concentrated, and did his very best to pulse <em>something</em>, anything, over their bonds. But with so much interference in the Force, he knew once he’d done it that he had achieved nothing.</p><p>           Coruscant was gone. Anakin was on Coruscant, he had to be, or at least still close to it. Obi-Wan had been on Utapau last, but both planets were so far even with a hyperdrive that by the time Jaster had arrived, he knew Obi-Wan would be either long-gone or well-and-truly dead.</p><p>           Mandalore was closest. Ahsoka was closest, if she was still there, and with the Mandalorians’ protection, it was possible. He found his old, secure comm line to Ahsoka, and composed the best message he could, one that might indicate the transmission was genuine. He sent it off and refused to admit to himself that there may be no response.</p><p>           Jaster set his course, and the starship disappeared him into the void.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           One benefit of Obi-Wan’s long friendship with Senator Organa was his access to the Senator’s great wealth of vehicles. Obi-Wan had enjoyed every opportunity to ride swoop bikes with the Senator during brief periods of respite, and admired the fine make of the sport-speeders. But now, he, Anakin, and Yoda were all crammed together in the back of one of the Senator’s enclosed cargo lifts, sharing a pair of long-range goggles between them as they looked down at the Senate building through a little window Bail had had created on extremely short notice.</p><p>           The situation was not promising. Hundreds of troopers swarmed the front entrance, and hundreds more around the back, with healthy squadrons of red-painted clones standing guard at every point of ingress. Gunships and troop carriers maintained a generous aerial perimeter, as workers did everything in their power to change every Republic insignia into a new, harsher one that Obi-Wan could only assume meant <em>EMPIRE</em>.</p><p>           They were reaching out in the Force, too, and they did not like what they felt. Darkness surrounded the entire Senate tower, a thick mist that they didn’t dare approach, lest Sidious catch even a small indicator that Yoda or Obi-Wan lived. That might spell doom for all of them, especially now in their compromised position.</p><p>           “Like this, I do not,” Yoda said. “A clear and obvious trap, it is.”</p><p>           “Sidious may want to avoid a fight regardless, so he can consolidate power.” Obi-Wan grimaced. “I don’t think any of us could sneak in, let alone all three. And even once we did, how long would it take for the clones to save him?</p><p>           Anakin was becoming frantic again. “No, no, no, it’s time. We have to take him. Now.”</p><p>           “It would be a fool’s endeavor. We would be cut down by blasterfire even as we were cut down by Sidious himself.”</p><p>           “No. No, we have to go now, or else he’s going to seal himself away and we may never get the chance.”</p><p>           Yoda turned to Anakin, and placed his hand on the younger Jedi’s shoulder. “If perish, we do, then who saves the Galaxy, hm? If saving, important to you it is, a poor substitute a rematch will be.”</p><p>           Anakin grew quiet, and he shifted away from them.</p><p>           “Anakin,” said Obi-Wan. “What troubles you?”</p><p>           Anakin cleared his throat. “I, uh. I’m concerned. Padme leads the Delegation of 2,000. She’ll be first on Sidious’ list, if he does want to create an Empire.”</p><p>           “Consult with her, we will,” Yoda murmured. “A child, she bears. Powerful in the Force. Seek it for his own ends, Sidious will. Save it, we can, and save her.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan felt the pang of fear and worry from Anakin, and shrugged it off, as usual. Anakin, predictably, seemed to think he’d hidden it.</p><p>           “Thank you, Master,” said Anakin.</p><p>           “Important, it is, that preserve we do what allies we still can. A trap for us, Sidious set, in the Senate building, even if know, he does not, that Obi-Wan and I still live. A trap for any bold and powerful Jedi, it is.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan inclined his head. “I agree. We must go offworld. I fear that Coruscant now has nothing left for us.”</p><p>           Anakin commed the speeder-pilot. “Take us back to the Senator,” he said, “and fly carefully. We’re done here.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Twelve Hours after Knightfall.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoyed! Not sure whether the holidays will hasten the next update or prolong it, but we will see.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Survivors</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Apologies for the delay in getting this one posted. The holidays were...well, holidays.</p><p>We'll be picking up a bit more, now.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Fourteen Hours after Knightfall</em>
</p><p> </p><p>           Ahsoka hadn’t responded directly to Jaster’s message. However, it had at least pinged as received on her comm, and that had been enough for Jaster to work with. It had taken a few tries to slice into Ahsoka’s transmitter, but once he had, it had brought him to an uninhabited moon a couple of light-years out from Mandalore. Jaster judged by the debris in space, and the smoke-plume still rising visibly from the surface, that Ahsoka’s Venator had gone down and it hadn’t been pretty.</p><p>           He swung his craft in a wide arc around the crash, and landed it quietly. He took care to move between shadows as he closed the distance, until he could peek down from a ledge close to where the Venator had crashed.</p><p>           He saw Ahsoka, out near the ship. She stood cloaked, but Jaster could tell it was her, both by her montrals and her Force signature. He nearly had to reach up and grab his own mouth, to prevent himself from calling to her. Ostensibly, he was here to pick her up, but he couldn’t help but feel he was being rescued instead.</p><p>           There was movement to his left, next to the Y-wing Jaster had assumed Ahsoka had stolen. It was Rex.</p><p>           Jaster crouched down and watched him, closely. Rex hooked something onto the frame of the bomber, a traveling satchel by the look of it. He looked out at Ahsoka. He didn’t move, and neither did she.</p><p>           Jaster frowned. He took in the bandage, on Rex’s head.</p><p>           He sat forward onto the ledge, and dropped down beside him, silently. Jaster extended his hand, to reach out with the Force, and-</p><p>           “Kid?” Rex muttered, and turned around.</p><p>           They both stared at each other, half-frozen. Jaster’s hand hovered above his lightsaber.</p><p>           Rex saw it immediately, and he raised his hands. “I’m not affected,” he said immediately. “Not anymore. I took my chip out.”</p><p>           “Chip?”</p><p>           “We’ll explain. I won’t harm you, or her. We’re the only survivors. We checked.”</p><p>           Jaster nodded, slowly.</p><p>           “Karking suns, it’s good to see you, kid,” Rex said. “How did you find us?”</p><p>           “Got into Ahsoka’s transceiver. We should ditch those.”</p><p>           “Yeah.” Rex let his hands hang loosely by his sides. “Ahsoka said something big happened, in the Force. Is that true?”</p><p>           “My men turned on me, too.”</p><p>           Rex looked visibly pained. “I’m sorry, General. If it’s any consolation, they didn’t have any idea what they were doing.”</p><p>           Jaster closed his eyes. “I hope you’re right. Hound didn’t say a word.”</p><p>           “Hound is a good soldier. Did he live?”</p><p>           “Yes.”</p><p>           Rex nodded. “We did the best we could to keep our boys alive. Didn’t matter much, in the end.”</p><p>           “Is Ahsoka hurt? What about Maul?”</p><p>           “Maul escaped in the chaos. Go see her.”</p><p>           “I’ve got an ARC fighter. If you want, we can load that up instead.” Jaster turned toward Ahsoka. Again he had to resist the urge to run to her, to embrace her and meditate with her, to try and find some small solace in light amidst the crushing darkness that the Force had become. Instead he just walked as quick as he could.</p><p>           Ahsoka knelt down, just as he was getting close. She reached out and rested her saber on the ground. Jaster was close enough to speak.</p><p>           “You’ll need that.”</p><p>           She froze, for a moment, as if she didn’t want to turn around. Then she did, leaving her saber beneath her. “You made it out,” she said, when she saw him. “You aren’t dead.”</p><p>           “You aren’t, either.”</p><p>           “Any others?”</p><p>           “Not that I know of. The Force is too clouded for me to tell.”</p><p>           “Clouded.” Ahsoka laughed, humorless. “That’s a word for it.”</p><p>           “The 501<sup>st</sup> turned?”</p><p>           “Against their will. The 212<sup>th</sup>?”</p><p>           “The same, I suppose,” said Jaster. “Rex gave me the short version of it.”</p><p>           Ahsoka looked down at her lightsaber, in the dirt. “You think I need that?”</p><p>           “I do.”</p><p>           “Rex left his helmet.”</p><p>           “Then leave your cloak.”</p><p>           “Not conclusive enough. A Jedi wouldn’t ever part with her lightsaber,” Ahsoka said. “I suppose it doesn’t mean that much to me, anymore. Besides, I’ve still got the little one.”</p><p>           Jaster shook his head. “Are you sure?”</p><p>           “I’m surprised you didn’t ditch yours.”</p><p>           “There’s plenty of proof I survived,” said Jaster. “Unfortunately.”</p><p>           Ahsoka hummed, thinking to herself. “Did you see Anakin’s transmission, from the Temple?”</p><p>           “Yeah, I received it. What do you think?”</p><p>           “I’d like to try and open my bond with him.”</p><p>           Jaster frowned. He fell into step beside Ahsoka, as she began walking back toward Rex. “Anakin has been…conflicted, recently. To say the least. You got him on a good day, he was seeing you back, but the way you felt him then isn’t the way he’s felt most of the time.”</p><p>           “I know. I might not have talked to him, but I kept my bond with him open. Before the Force changed, at least.”</p><p>           “The way it feels now. That would be enough to make anybody turn-“</p><p>           “Anakin wouldn’t turn.” Ahsoka’s voice was firm, and flat. “He wouldn’t turn. Not after he sent that message, and he wouldn’t fake it that well if he tried. We know he survived, and he’s all we have.”</p><p>           “They could be tracking his movements. He could’ve been captured.”</p><p>           “He’s all we have right now.” Ahsoka was staring at him, hard. She was clearly not looking to be convinced otherwise.</p><p>           Jaster sighed, and he ran through notes in his head. “Do you think they found out who the Sith Lord is?”</p><p>           “They must have,” said Ahsoka. “Why else would they have activated the chips now? They should have waited till the war was done, and we all had our guards down.”</p><p>           “I don’t suppose my suspicions were right?”</p><p>           “Your suspicions?”</p><p>           Despite everything, Jaster forced his lips to quirk upward. “That it was Representative Binks the whole time?”</p><p>           Ahsoka hissed, and Jaster immediately regretted it. “Really? Now?”</p><p>           “You’re right.”</p><p>           They walked in silence, the rest of the way back to Rex.</p><p>           He saluted them both, and Jaster could feel the shiver of pain that ran through Ahsoka. Jaster felt just the same, himself.</p><p>           “I moved our supplies to the ARC-170,” Rex said. “Figured it was quicker and better-armed, plus it’s a three-seater. Are we done here?”</p><p>           “Do you need more time?” Ahsoka said. “We can afford a bit more.”</p><p>           “We should get moving. Who knows where the Navy will prioritize this crash. They could be on their way.”</p><p>           Jaster nodded. “Rex, how would you feel if we tried contacting Anakin?”</p><p>           Rex perked up immediately. “You think it’s worth a shot?”</p><p>           “You saw what he sent,” said Ahsoka. “He’s not dead. Why not try?”</p><p>           Rex looked back and forth between them. “Yeah?”</p><p>           “I have my reservations,” Jaster admitted. “But if I’m outvoted, I won’t be pursuing a veto.”</p><p>           Ahsoka turned away from them. “Give me a moment.”</p><p>           Rex and Jaster shared a look, and got straight to work with the same awkward shuffling that came when someone needed to expel some solid waste halfway into a special-ops mission.</p><p>           Jaster’s skin crawled with Force input, and he looked back at Ahsoka just as she fell to her knees. He felt it too, a quick pulse of light and strength through the Force, and it was all either of them needed.</p><p>           Rex looked panicked. “What?” he said. “What’s wrong with her? Is something wrong?”</p><p>           “Anakin’s alive,” Jaster said softly. “He’s alive and okay. They’re communing now.”</p><p>           “They can…talk to each other?”</p><p>           “Not really. They can share emotions, and broad messages based in feelings.”</p><p>           “How long have they been able to do that?”</p><p>           “Oh. The whole time you’ve known them, sorry. Right now, they’re just flowing a message back and forth. <em>Safe.</em>”</p><p>           Rex nodded, and he seemed just a touch more at-ease. “We should get into orbit.”</p><p>           “Yes, we should. He’s going to be sending coordinates pretty soon.”</p><p>           Ahsoka stood, and walked past them toward the fighter. “He’s not in danger, but I could feel his urgency. We’ll need to time a rendezvous just right. There’s no telling how he’s being tracked.”</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           They’d gotten to Anakin’s coordinates in a matter of minutes, but they’d been drifting for well over an hour before he got to them.</p><p>           A Corellian corvette dropped out of hyperspace, and without even knowing it, Jaster and Ahsoka let out a gasp in unison.</p><p>           The ship felt <em>Light</em>. It felt <em>home</em> and <em>safe </em>and <em>solace</em>, far beyond what any ship had a right to feel, especially with the Force the way it was. Moreover, the sensation was far too large to have been produced by any one being, even if that being were Anakin Skywalker. There were <em>others</em>.</p><p>           Ahsoka, in the pilot’s seat, threw the throttle wide open, and Jaster was pressed back in his seat against his will. They swung into position as Rex exchanged docking and confirmation codes with the pilots, and they latched onto the corvette’s underbelly. As the magnets hooked the ships onto each other, Jaster could feel the engines of the Corvette pick up as they rolled into position for another jump. One by one they dropped and wriggled through the airlock ports in the starfighter, until they could shimmy out into the corvette’s docking bay.</p><p>           Steam dropped from the ceiling as the room repressurized. Without being told, Rex dropped to one knee and put his hands behind his head. Jaster appreciated not needing to ask it of him.</p><p>           The door slid upward, and the situation was even better than Jaster could have hoped.</p><p>           He all-but-ran to Master Obi-Wan, as beside them, Anakin and Ahsoka pulled each other into an embrace. Rex saw that he would be allowed forward, and within moments he was being looked over by Senator Amidala, his face in her hands.</p><p>           Senator Organa was there, too, and it was clear that the situation was his to command. “Is anybody hurt? What’s happened?”</p><p>           “Bumps and bruises,” Rex called out. “We’ll all live.”</p><p>           “Come,” the Senator said. “We must not delay.”</p><p>           They all followed Senator Organa down the hall. His cape swept out behind him as he signalled to his crew. “Prep the pilots!” the Senator shouted. “I want three micro-jumps, do them blind if you must. Then a ten-minute jump to an uninhabited system, and use the sublight engines to get in some planet’s gravity well. Power down the externals as soon as we can!”</p><p>           One of Senator Organa’s private security caught Jaster and Ahsoka’s attention. “Any reason to believe you were followed?”</p><p>           “Not at this time.”</p><p>           “Any of you confirmed survivors?”</p><p>           Jaster lifted his hand.</p><p>           “Understood. I need everybody’s comms, transceivers, everything. We need to jettison them after the first microjump.”</p><p>           Another security officer came striding down the hall. “Prepare to jump! Prepare to jump!”</p><p>           Everybody found a spot to sit down, with their backs against the wall to brace against the corvette’s fast acceleration. The ship lurched into a hyperspace tunnel, and then back out of it within seconds.</p><p>           “Thank you,” the security officer said, and he ran off with the Jedi’s and Rex’s comlinks in hand.</p><p>           Jaster turned back to Master Obi-Wan. “Are you all right, Master?”</p><p>           “Certainly not, given the circumstances, but I am in the same way you are.” Master Obi-Wan turned and opened his arms for Ahsoka, who came charging into him like she was an Initiate again. Jaster turned to Anakin, and the two of them appraised each other.</p><p>           “Did you find the Sith Lord?” said Jaster.</p><p>           “It was the Chancellor.”</p><p>           Jaster blinked, and then again, as the horrid implications of that washed over him. “Well. That’s ah….” He tapped his fingertips together. “You seem to be doing rather well, all things considered.”</p><p>           Anakin huffed. “Thanks.”</p><p>           Senator Amidala reached for Jaster’s hand. “I’m so thankful that you survived. All of you, and without real injury.”</p><p>           “I didn’t believe it myself,” Jaster said. He pulled the lower part of his armor off for the ship’s medical droid, which had been summoned to inspect where Jaster had been shot. “I was told that this lineage of Jedi was drawn to the unusual, when I became part of it. I suppose that’s turned out to be true.”</p><p>           “I suppose it has,” Senator Amidala said. She smiled at him, just a bit.</p><p>           The droid backed away from Jaster, and whistled a discharge code to clear him.</p><p>           Now, Senator Organa was trying to get their attention, and slowly the hallway quieted for him.</p><p>           “Alright,” he said. “We will be making several more jumps while we find a safe place to orbit. Current hopes are to reach the Tsonue sector, but that will depend on the next few minutes. We don’t believe anybody aboard this ship is being actively tracked, but if they are, this should be enough to throw the Empire off their trail for now.”</p><p>           Jaster leaned over to Anakin. “The Empire?”</p><p>           “It’s worse than you’re imagining.”</p><p>           “How can it be worse-“</p><p>           “It’s worse.”</p><p>           The Senator continued. “My Captain will show you each to your quarters. If you have personal items, do what you need to do. I need everybody in the conference room, in one-hour standard.”</p><p>           Everybody acknowledged him, and before long, they had dispersed.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Jaster had hoped to be the first one to the conference room, as he expected of himself under Master Obi-Wan. But he’d been just a bit too slow, and when he arrived he found Master Obi-Wan there too, waiting outside the door.</p><p>           “Jaster,” the older Jedi said. He looked exhausted, even by Jaster’s usual standard for him. “Are you sure you’re well? They told me you’d been shot.”</p><p>           “My armor caught most of it. They told me you fell off a cliff.”</p><p>           “Well, it was into water.”</p><p>           “They said you’d been to the Temple.”</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan didn’t respond to that.</p><p>           “Master. What happened there?”</p><p>           “Extermination,” he said, and Jaster could hear the choke in his voice. “Palpatine led the assault. Perhaps some escaped, but none survived in the Temple.”</p><p>           “The younglings?”</p><p>           “Slaughtered like the rest.”</p><p>           Jaster sighed. “Then the Force has a reason to feel this way.”</p><p>           “Your shields are strong?”</p><p>           “As strong as I can make them.”</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan nodded. They both stood aside, as the conference room door opened.</p><p>           Senator Organa poked his head out. “You can come in now.”</p><p>           They did, and Jaster was immediately fixed by the stare of Master Yoda.</p><p>           “Padawan Vigil,” Master Yoda said. He bowed his head. “Pleased, I am, to see that you have made it here.”</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan shook his head. “Not a Padawan anymore, Master, you remember.”</p><p>           “Yes. Your first command, this was. Your first planetary command. Confident, did you feel?”</p><p>           “Yerbana was becoming difficult. But I had put my trust in the Force.”</p><p>           Master Yoda looked down. “Platitudes, I do not need, child.”</p><p>           “Master?”</p><p>           “Broken, the Force is. On this ship, the Jedi Order is. Beyond the platitudes that learners speak to masters, we are.”</p><p>           Jaster ignored Master Obi-Wan’s face beside him, crestfallen to hear Yoda saying that. “Yes, Master, I understand,” he said. “Well…Yerbana required some difficult strategic changes once the 501<sup>st</sup> left. But we were on our way to a costly victory. May I ask, Master…with your power in the Force, the Sith Lord doesn’t know you survived?”</p><p>           Master Yoda shook his head. “Obscured my presence, I have. Anchored it to my body through the Living Force, so that feel it, only those around me do. Teach all of you to do this, I will, and to pair it with mental shields.”</p><p>           Jaster nodded. “I think I understand, Master.”</p><p>           They all made way for Rex, who came to join them. He saluted by the door. “Generals.”</p><p>           Master Yoda chuckled. “Resign, I do,” he said. “Think, I did not, that that needed to be said, but a talented soldier you are, Commander. Yoda, I am.”</p><p>           “Yes, General.”</p><p>           Jaster smiled, softly. So did Master Obi-Wan, despite himself.</p><p>           Everybody took their seats. Ahsoka was the next one in, and then Anakin and Senator Amidala, and then Senator Organa and his Captain last.</p><p>           Senator Organa addressed the room. “It has now been approximately one day, Coruscant time, since Order 66 was issued to the clone army. The Jedi are presumed to be in hiding. Palpatine has been confirmed as Galactic Emperor, although the Senate still remains as a constitutional balance, and the Confederacy of Independent Systems has surrendered after an orbital bombardment of their leadership on the planet Mustafar. We are currently positioning into the orbit of a truly uninhabitable moon, orbiting a truly uninhabitable planet, orbiting a dim and dying dwarf star. All external power signatures are stopped. It is unlikely that the Empire would be able to find us even if they tracked us to the planet, which in turn is not likely at all.”</p><p>           Anakin spoke up. “Senator Organa, please know that I appreciate everything you’re doing for us. But aren’t you expected to be at the Senate?”</p><p>           “Most of the Delegation of 2,000 has left Coruscant for the time being. Ostensibly, to ensure a peaceful transition on their home planets. It won’t be looked on as amiss.”</p><p>           Master Yoda turned to Rex. “Commander. Recover, will the clones? Or gone, are they, at the mercy of these implants?”</p><p>           “They are gone, General. At least until the chips are removed.”</p><p>           Master Yoda didn’t respond to that. His ears tucked downward.</p><p>           Jaster could feel Anakin shifting with impatience and discomfort through the Force. In fact, he probably could have gathered the same just from the way Anakin’s leg was bouncing under the table. They were next to each other, and the floor quaked a bit; Jaster didn’t need the Force to know that.</p><p>           When he began to attract stares from others around the table, Anakin decided to speak. “I have something to tell you all,” he said. He looked over at Padme, nervously. “We do, I mean.”</p><p>           Padme frowned at him. “Now?”</p><p>           “We’re married,” Anakin blurted. Immediately, his eyes widened, and his voice drew up into a choked gasp. “And pregnant. I’m sorry. I thought since I’ve kept so much-“</p><p>           “We know,” Rex said flatly.</p><p>           Anakin glared at him. “Well, Rex, I know <em>you </em>do, but-“</p><p>           “Know, we do,” Yoda said.</p><p>           “Anakin, we’ve known for quite some time,” Obi-Wan said. “Certainly, we knew once the child was conceived, it’s got nearly as much potential as you do. And Padme, you must understand, you are <em>very </em>pregnant by now.”</p><p>           Ahsoka crossed her arms. “It’s like my parents sat me down to tell me they’re my parents.”</p><p>           Anakin opened his mouth, but to no avail.</p><p>           Jaster turned to him, and couldn’t help but grin. “So that went how you expected, right?”</p><p>           Anakin reddened, and Senator Amidala reached over to him. “Thank you all for being so understanding,” she said. “With the war, and the Order-“</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan nodded. “Padme, the Galaxy’s fallen apart. Surely we can accept small things such as this.”</p><p>           Rex cut in, sheepishly. “You do know you don’t actually have to <em>be</em> married, General, in order to-“</p><p>           “As much as it is good to make light in these sorts of moments,” Senator Organa said, “I do think we have enough trouble to deal with besides.”</p><p>           Master Yoda nodded. “Agree, I must. Come, now.”</p><p>           Around the table, everybody turned toward him. Anakin still radiated embarrassment.</p><p>           “Begin, I should, by repeating the obvious. Won, Sidious has, for now. Defeat him, we cannot.”</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan saw the confusion in Jaster’s and Ahsoka’s faces, and he held up a hand. “We did try and get to him. But Palpatine anticipated some sort of attempt, and has taken refuge in the Senate building. The entire Coruscant Guard may well be deployed there—we saw a thousand of them, at least. He will likely remain under guard as long as he fears a threat to his new power. We couldn’t run the risk of being discovered, not with myself and Master Yoda presumed dead for now.”</p><p>           Master Yoda nodded. He looked to Ahsoka. “Dead, are you?”</p><p>           Ahsoka nodded grimly. “Rex and I both. Our cruiser went down, and for all the new Empire knows, we were inside of it.”</p><p>           “And you, Knight Vigil?”</p><p>           “No.” Jaster looked down. “I had to make an escape, there wasn’t time to cover my tracks.”</p><p>           “Acceptable, this is,” said Master Yoda. “Knight Skywalker. Alive, he is known to be.”</p><p>           Anakin looked over at Ahsoka. “I was there when Sidious revealed himself. He revealed himself to me.”</p><p>           “Anakin-“</p><p>           “I couldn’t stop him, Ahsoka.”</p><p>           Her face drew tight, but Jaster could see clearly it was out of worry for Anakin. Jaster hoped Anakin could see that as well.</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan looked around at the Jedi. “How strong are your mental shields right now?”</p><p>           “Strong,” Ahsoka said. “As strong as they were after I left the Order.”</p><p>           “Good. Are you familiar with the concept of overlapped shielding?”</p><p>           Jaster tilted his head. “You mean, in terms of starfighter defense?”</p><p>           “Yes. Smaller craft hide behind the bigger, more powerful shields of the larger craft, unless they must foray out and engage the enemy. Something to that effect.”</p><p>           “Yes, Master, I’m familiar?”</p><p>           “A similar technique, we can use,” said Master Yoda. “If strong shields, erect, we do, and then merge and overlap in each other’s presence, nearly impossible to find, we will be.”</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan chimed in. “We may not be able to contact, or gather, all the other Jedi who must have survived this. But if we are lucky enough to come across Jedi who are careful, or skilled, we may be able to join them into this shield when the time comes. Add enough survivors, and we can create an umbrella capable of shrouding even the strongest and most uncontrollable Younglings in the Force.”</p><p>           Jaster nodded, slowly. “Is that our goal? To collect survivors?”</p><p>           “A goal, we do not have yet, young one,” said Master Yoda.</p><p>           Anakin sat up. “Are we not going to oppose the Empire?”</p><p>           Senator Organa answered him. “I hope we do. But we’ve got a lot of logistics to work out, if we’re going to last more than a week out here on our own.”</p><p>           “I understand,” Anakin said. “Where will we go?”</p><p>           The Senator stood up. “This ship,” he said, and he swept his arms out to either side. “Is the <em>Tantive IV</em>”. She is one of a small fleet of six Corellian corvettes I received from Breha’s family, as a gift from their estate.”</p><p>           “<em>Tantive</em>?” said Ahsoka.</p><p>           “Breha’s maiden name. One of the ships, the <em>Tantive II,</em> I am going to arrange to have stolen by some marauding pirates. Once that’s done, the ship will be yours, to do with as you please. She sleeps three hundred, although the lodgings are not always comfortable past the first hundred. It will need some retrofitting through the black market to serve our purposes better.”</p><p>           “That is exceptionally generous,” said Master Kenobi. “Bail, you really don’t have to.”</p><p>           “The Tantive family is well-endowed,” Senator Organa insisted. “They will not notice it missing and hardly will I. These are strange times, and I will live without a sixth ship.”</p><p>           “Will it come crewed?” said Anakin.</p><p>           “Count on it.”</p><p>           Jaster leaned forward. “Senator, I appreciate the offer, but do we really intend to gather three hundred? Where would we even find three hundred passengers?”</p><p>           “Master Yoda was correct,” said Senator Organa. He looked at Jaster with a hard glint in his eyes. “We do not yet have a goal. However, I am confident that there is no shortage of people who will soon hope to oppose the Empire. And if I know the Jedi on this ship, then those Jedi will be leading the charge.”</p><p>           They were all silent for a few moments, as they looked around at their surroundings.</p><p>           Rex raised his hand. When the table of Senators and Jedi looked over to him, he seemed to shrink just a bit, but he spoke anyway. “I’d like to take this opportunity to reassure everybody here of my loyalty. My boys and the entire rest of the GAR have done some awful things just now, and I nearly did before Ahsoka got my chip out, and-“</p><p>           “We understand,” said Anakin. “We would never ask you to fight against your brothers.”</p><p>           “No, no, I meant exactly the opposite,” said Rex. “Now, I don’t much like the thought of it, but it’s what needs to be done. As much as I treasure those men, they’re not themselves anymore. They won’t be, until those chips come out, and once they do I’m not sure every clone will be able to live with himself.”</p><p>           “Try, we will, to give every man an opportunity to regain himself,” said Master Yoda. “Make a promise, I cannot. Succeed, we may not.”</p><p>           “I want to make it clear,” said Rex. “I’m in this till the end, for the love of what the Republic could have been. For my brothers’ freedom, one day. And for what’s right.”</p><p>           “We know you are,” said Anakin.</p><p>           Padme sat forward. “What about my child? I’m due any day now.”</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan rubbed his beard. “We discussed this on Coruscant. Sidious will know that the child exists, and if he cannot have Anakin-“</p><p>           “I told him,” Anakin said, and there was clear dread in his voice. “I told him about my child.”</p><p>           “You couldn’t have known,” said Ahsoka. “Nobody knew what he was.”</p><p>           “Protect a child strong in the Force, we can,” said Master Yoda. “Our mental shielding. Shield the child, we will. And to further obscure it from the Emperor, an attempt, I will make, to simulate stillbirth of the child.”</p><p>           Padme shook her head. “No, no, we can’t do that-“</p><p>           “Only an illusion, it will be,” Master Yoda reassured her. “Invisible in the Force, we will make them, by hiding them deliberately wherever they go.”</p><p>           “And you can do this safely?”</p><p>           “Done it, I have, already before. Again, I will. Send for your handmaidens to join us, and have the child, we can, here on the ship before you must return to Coruscant.”</p><p>           “Return?” Again, Anakin appeared to only catch himself after he’d already said it.</p><p>           Senator Amidala looked over to him. She frowned, and tilted her head. “Well…yes, I do have to go back there eventually.”</p><p>           “With Sidious?”</p><p>           “Anakin, somebody’s got to fight for what’s right in the Senate. Just like we’ll have to on the battlefield.”</p><p>           Anakin darkened. “We’ll talk about this later.”</p><p>           Master Kenobi took the reins seamlessly. “Master Yoda,” he said. “What would you like from each of us, as we go forward in the coming days?”</p><p>           “Hmm. Whatever you choose to do, I will support.”</p><p>           “Master?”</p><p>           Master Yoda looked down. Everybody waited for his response, but he made them wait a full minute before his ears turned back toward them. “Finished, I am,” he finally said. “With leading the Jedi.”</p><p>           Anakin frowned, and Jaster felt his fear surge. “Master?”</p><p>           “Disappear, I will not,” Master Yoda huffed. “Very much a Jedi Knight, I still am, although I am an old one. But lead the Order to a great and deadly tragedy, I did. Unlike any Grandmaster before me, my blindness was.”</p><p>           “Master Yoda,” said Master Obi-Wan. “You simply mustn’t blame yourself-“</p><p>           “I do,” he said, firm. “And I must. Failed the Jedi in our time of greatest need, I have. By my failure to see.”</p><p>           Jaster reached out in the force for Master Yoda, something he’d neglected to do until now. The Grandmaster felt muted, deflated. He did not shine like he had in the Temple.</p><p>           “Offer guidance, I will, whenever you may ask. But a Jedi Order, we hardly are, we five. Trust, I do, that guide yourselves, you can. Retreat, I must, for a time, to go inside the Force. And to protect the child, when arrive, it does. To teach the child, when time, it is.”</p><p>           The four remaining Jedi looked around the table at each other. None of them knew what to say.</p><p>           “Master,” Master Obi-Wan said slowly. “Are you abdicating-“</p><p>           “Not yet. Abdicate, I will not yet, my place as Grandmaster. But one day soon, when an order to lead, there is.”</p><p>           And then Jaster felt something shift in the Force, around Master Yoda. Clouds and fog pulled away, as if to bear the old Jedi to them all. He was ancient, tired, perhaps more than a bit broken. Jaster hadn’t considered that in such a way before.</p><p>           Surprisingly, Anakin was the first to speak, after that. “Alright,” he said softly. “Am I the only one who believes we should be trying to lure Sidious out?”</p><p>           “No,” Jaster said. “I agree.”</p><p>           Master Obi-Wan nodded. “Ironically, you two are also the ones known to be alive. If we will be doing anything at all to stand against the Emperor, it will likely be through the public faces of one of you.”</p><p>Jaster looked over at Anakin. The older Jedi didn’t turn, but he nodded slightly so Jaster could see.</p><p>“Formulate a plan, and perhaps you can reveal yourselves to see if you can attract him. But we must be exceedingly careful.” Master Obi-Wan turned to Ahsoka. “I do not want to ask this. Where is Maul?”</p><p>           “Disappeared in a shuttle,” Ahsoka muttered. She stared at the floor again. “I’m sorry, Master. I couldn’t hold him and save ourselves.”</p><p>           “I understand,” Master Obi-Wan said. He looked around at everyone, and stared extra-long at the Senators so they might grasp the gravity of what he would say. “I think we are best allowing Maul into the wind, for now.”</p><p>           “Really?” said Anakin. “Honestly, Obi-Wan, after everything he’s done.”</p><p>           “He can be Sidious’ problem now,” said Master Obi-Wan. “Or maybe he will become Sidious’ thrall again. I cannot say. But if he should fail to get back in his master’s good graces, I can’t imagine he would be more use captured here than as a thorn in Sidious’ side out there.”</p><p>           Senator Organa inclined his head. “Thank you, Masters Jedi. Now, I suggest we rest. I know I haven’t slept since the attack, and I’m sure none of you have, either. The Galaxy will be no more broken a few hours from now.”</p><p>           One by one, the Jedi and clone and Senators stood up, and found their own way to a peaceful sleeping spot.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           It was nearly impossible to sleep, as it turned out, when the entire Galaxy was midway through falling apart. Jaster learned this relatively quickly, but refused to acknowledge it until three or four hours of tossing and turning had passed. In normal circumstances, he’d have meditated instead, but to open himself to the Cosmic Force was far too painful, and he was hardly experienced enough to use the Living Force well.</p><p>           So he had gotten up, and found some spare robes from the supply officer that weren’t tailored to fit battle armor. For the first time since he had created it, he left his lightsaber in his quarters, and the absence he felt at his side hardly registered.</p><p>           The ship was nearly bare. In talking with the supply officer, Jaster had learned that the crew was perhaps twenty-five, plus the Jedi and the other guests. Although he hated the thought of it, he couldn’t help but dwell on what it might feel like with only a skeleton crew and the other Jedi survivors, set adrift for months if not longer. All Falleen longed for companionship, and he was no different.</p><p>           He had been lucky, then, to find Ahsoka, staring out from the upper bridge at the moon below them. He came up beside her, and neither of them spoke for a long while.</p><p>           “That’s an inhospitable moon,” she said at last. “On the surface, it rains molten glass.”</p><p>           “Sounds lovely.”</p><p>           “You’re welcome to try it.”</p><p>           Both of them felt pain from the other, at that joke, and Jaster only realized after a moment that it had served to remind them both of others dead.</p><p>           “You couldn’t sleep?” said Jaster.</p><p>           “No. And I know you couldn’t, either, you never can.”</p><p>           “Master Obi-Wan taught me well.”</p><p>           Ahsoka nodded slowly. “I think I might just call him Obi-Wan.”</p><p>           “Yeah?”</p><p>           “And Yoda, and Bail, and Padme. Anakin. The titles feel so empty, now.”</p><p>           Jaster hummed. “They feel more secure, to me. Like something that hasn’t changed.”</p><p>           “Everything’s changed. For the worse.” Ahsoka’s voice was startlingly normal when she said it. “I’d call us an insurgency, but we aren’t even that, yet. Just a rebel cell. None of the rebels I’ve worked with used titles.”</p><p>           “That’s fair enough.” It would be Obi-Wan, then, Jaster thought to himself.</p><p>           They watched the planet again. Most of the surface was obscured by clouds of dark purple. Lightning rippled across, every few seconds.</p><p>           “I’m worried about Anakin again,” Ahsoka admitted. “I didn’t want to say it before. I don’t think I could stand the idea of not trying to find him. But you’re right. He feels close to the edge.”</p><p>           “You’ve felt him this way before?”</p><p>           “That time Obi-Wan went undercover. And on the Mortis mission.”</p><p>           “Yeah, I still don’t believe any of that actually happened,” said Jaster. “I swear you’re all playing a trick on me.”</p><p>           “I get that.” Ahsoka focused on the lightning, on the moon below. “Palpatine was a father to him,” she said. “I know how tightly Anakin holds the ones he loves. Like he holds me. I know there must have been at least a piece of him that thought about turning when Palpatine asked, and I know how much he’s feared losing all of us.”</p><p>           “I agree. I worry…since we all survived, we’re all still here for him to lose. And it’ll be much harder to keep us safe now than it was before.”</p><p>           “Yeah.”</p><p>           Jaster started to say what he wanted to, and then caught himself. After a moment, he started again. “Ahsoka?”</p><p>           “What?”</p><p>           “Are you…I don’t know. Are you okay to be here?”</p><p>           Ahsoka turned to face him. “What do you mean?”</p><p>           “They tried to expel you from the Order. You weren’t back before the clones turned. Are you okay with being back now?”</p><p>           Ahsoka thought for a moment. “Can I tell you something?”</p><p>           “Yeah.”</p><p>           “Standing there, with Maul in front of me, at my mercy…bringing him back alive and unharmed…I felt more like a Jedi in that moment than I had in a long time.”</p><p>           “You were going to come back?”</p><p>           “Not right away. But…I’d have spoken to the Council, and seen if there were a way for me to be involved. And then, one day, sure. If it kept on being like that.”</p><p>           “I have a question,” Jaster said.</p><p>           “Yes?”</p><p>           “Well, not a question. But I want you to know.”</p><p>           “What is it?”</p><p>           “The Masters haven’t always had your back. And now you’re back here, and…” Jaster hesitated. “Look. We’re Jedi Knights. If you’re okay with me calling you that. And we’re going to be the ones going out a lot of the time and doing whatever we end up doing, because they don’t need to save either of us to take Sidious out. When the time comes. The Masters haven’t always had my back either, and I suppose what I’m saying-“</p><p>           Ahsoka raised a hand to stop him. “We have each other’s backs.”</p><p>           “Yeah.”</p><p>           “Something goes down, whatever it is, and we find each other first.”</p><p>           “Yeah. That’s what I mean.”</p><p>           Ahsoka nodded. “And Rex. We make sure he gets taken care of, too.”</p><p>           “I don’t think they’ll toss us out an airlock or anything, but-“</p><p>           “No, you’re right,” said Ahsoka. “And if I were to have to risk my own life to save Anakin and Yoda and Obi-Wan, so they can face Sidious…I’d do it. But we can do that a lot more times if we do it together.”</p><p>           The doors slid open behind them, and they both turned. Obi-Wan was walking in, and Yoda at his side, clearly deep in conversation.</p><p>           The Masters noticed them, though, and stopped.</p><p>           “I see we aren’t the only ones having trouble,” said Obi-Wan.</p><p>           “We haven’t been here long,” Jaster said. “Care to join us?”</p><p>           “Yes,” Yoda said, and he came slowly until he was staring out the viewport. “Too many beings, there are, in the Galaxy. Too many to save.”</p><p>           “We’ve always known that,” said Jaster. “The Jedi have always wished they could do more.”</p><p>           “Defenseless, the Galaxy will be, now,” said Yoda. “The Sith. Destroy all, he will, if it pleases him.”</p><p>           Ahsoka sighed and looked down to him. “Master, the Galaxy has always been defenseless,” she said.</p><p>           Yoda cocked his head.</p><p>           “The Galaxy is full of trillions and trillions of people. There were ten thousand Jedi Knights, when the war began. Most people never met a Jedi, and most Jedi never met most people.”</p><p>           Yoda frowned.</p><p>           “That’s why the Galaxy turned on them,” said Ahsoka. “That’s why the Emperor could do this, because he knew he wouldn’t be brought out with his head on a pike for daring to harm the protectors of all people. The people didn’t have any connection to us, to begin with. They haven’t for some centuries at least. Heads of state and leaders within the Republic may be missing the Order right now, but…the people may not even notice we’re gone.”</p><p>           Yoda didn’t seem to know what to say, at first. “Ahsoka,” he said finally, soft. “Wise, you have become. Far wiser than I.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan, behind him, just looked heartbroken.</p><p>           “We can change that, Masters,” said Jaster. “We can, soon, if we choose to start again. But we must face it, for now. I fear Ahsoka is right.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan reached out and rubbed Ahsoka’s shoulder. “You are,” he said. “You are.”</p><p>           He looked as if he had much more to say, and the others waited for him.</p><p>           “Ahsoka,” he said slowly. “You do understand that, not withstanding anything else that has happened, you are truly a Jedi Knight now. I know what it is to best Maul, and in the way you did it, and I do not deny that you would have passed your Trials of Knighthood before. But now, it is hardly a title we can ignore if we wished to.”</p><p>           “Obi-Wan,” Ahsoka said. “I’m not a Jedi at all.”</p><p>           “I know. But you live the Jedi Code in a way better than any of us. We must acknowledge that, even if you do not choose to.”</p><p>           Ahsoka nodded. “I concede your point,” she said. “And one day, perhaps we can have that discussion.”</p><p>           “Without your lightsabers, arrive, you did,” said Yoda. “A new one, do you need?”</p><p>           “Anakin lost his,” Obi-Wan offered. “He’s been using a spare we picked up in the Temple.”</p><p>           “I’ve got my shoto,” said Ahsoka. “And when we’re able to stop in at one of the Outer Rim trading posts and re-outfit ourselves, I’ll pick up a blaster to use for now.”</p><p>           Yoda shook his head. “A weapon for a Force-wielder, a blaster is certainly not.”</p><p>           “I still have the crystal I used to make the shoto. If I can find parts, I’ll build it into a correctly sized one and use that.” She paused. “Don’t tell Anakin, but I’m going to try and get it green again.”</p><p>           Master Yoda chuckled. “Aid in that effort, I will.”</p><p>           “And me,” said Jaster, smiling.</p><p>           Obi-Wan, clearly outnumbered, just rolled his eyes.</p><p>           “Have either of you seen Anakin?” he said.</p><p>           “He’s with Padme,” said Ahsoka. “They’re trying to figure out their next steps.”</p><p>           “I do not like the line of thought that would place her back on Coruscant,” said Obi-Wan. “He will fixate on her well-being, and I fear that he may become unstable.”</p><p>            “And if Palpatine is aware of her role in his life, which I’m sure he is, he will use her to try and lure him into a trap,” said Jaster. “Could Anakin withstand that?”</p><p>           “I don’t know,” Ahsoka said. “I don’t know how we could get the Senator to neglect her duties, either.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan folded his hands. “We may be best-off allowing them to come to their own conclusion,” he said. “I fear what they both might do if we challenge their plans, and invoke their pride.”</p><p>           Yoda grunted, and inclined his head. “A dangerous game, this is, placing our trust in Skywalker at such a sensitive time. If fail, we do, then forced, we will be, to make both of them see clearly. But if come to a decision, you have, then carry it out, I will seek to.”</p><p>           Ahsoka and Jaster and Obi-Wan all shared a look. “We are in agreement, Master,” said Obi-Wan.</p><p>           “Then test young Skywalker, we will, and see if he has learned from the Sith’s deception. Perhaps, find his way on his own, he will.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Thirty Hours after Knightfall.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Moor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which we meet Darth Vader's runner-up, and she is unleashed.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Two Days after Knightfall</em>
</p><p> </p><p>           For decades, Lord Sidious had waited in the shadows. He had moved pieces from place to place, and quietly shifted the balance of things to this way or that, while the old, doddering fool Palpatine had led the Republic toward its eventual ruin. Lord Sidious had waited decades, for the very moment that unfolded before him now. That was a glorious thing. And it was a glorious thing for Sly Moore, too.</p><p>           The voices still haunted her, from the crypt she’d been lost within for months as a young girl, until Lord Sidious found her and rescued her from that dark place. She had only known him as Lord Sidious then.</p><p>           That was until he had become Senator Palpatine, from Naboo, and he had educated her so that she could have a place by his side. Always listening, always calculating in the background, never entitled to share her opinions with Lord Sidious but always confident that his decision would, in the end, be the right one. She had learned volumes from him.</p><p>           She had learned about Skywalker.</p><p>           The Child of the Force, who Lord Sidious so coveted, was supposed to join them. He was supposed to become master of all the Galaxy, save for Lord Sidious himself, and cement the new Emperor’s rule by an iron fist. But Skywalker had failed Lord Sidious.</p><p>           Sly Moore would have been lying, if she’d pretended she wasn’t the least bit pleased.</p><p>           Sly Moore had always been acutely aware, since that very first day with Lord Sidious, that she was a backup plan. She was a contingency, in case things ever went awfully wrong in a way Sidious couldn’t recover on his own. She was a pawn to be utilized, but also to be sacrificed, if need be, and she had long ago made her peace with that. Steeped in the Darkness as she was, she had sought to collect knowledge and power, so that if one day she was indeed needed to fill such a role, she would be there with a fire in her eyes to appease her Master.</p><p>           But never did she think it would be so delicious as this. Lord Sidious’ carefully groomed pet had fallen out of his favor in an instant, and it was becoming increasingly clear he would be difficult to recapture…and Lord Sidious needed somebody <em>powerful</em> to do his bidding in the meantime. He had always made sure to encourage Sly Moore to become powerful.</p><p>           The new Emperor had taken to working from his chambers below the Senate floor, and it was there that Sly Moore went now. She was flanked on either side by the red-patched clones, who walked with her in perfect droid lock-step. She could not help but feel a stirring in her chest, at the moment before her. She had worked tirelessly for decades of her own, to finally come to it.</p><p>           Sly Moore was many things, but most of all, she was a library. She had received no kind of gift from Lord Sidious except for one, and that gift was <em>holocrons</em>, passed down from Sith marauders and alchemists and sorcerers of a thousand generations past. She had learned from the greatest of all of them, in Lord Sidious, but she had also learned her greatness from all of them.</p><p>           She stopped at the Emperor’s door. She clasped her hands at her waist, underneath her robes, as he had trained her to do so precisely.</p><p>           The door hissed open.</p><p>           “Enter, Sly Moore.”</p><p>           Lord Sidious’ voice had become what it was meant to be, spoken once from his own mouth and again through powerful tremors deep within the Force. His presence in the Force had always been an intoxicant to her, but now, it was a smooth, black oil that washed her and coated her in its own unique sort of warmth. She bathed in it, for the briefest of moments, before she stepped in.</p><p>           She presented herself to him. Her focus upon him was singular, just as he had instructed whenever they were away from prying eyes. She knelt, and bowed her head deep. “Lord Sidious.”</p><p>           “Rise,” he said, and she obeyed. She lifted her head and fixed him with her coldest stare. He grinned at her.</p><p>           Murky tendrils of his own influence came forward through the Force, and they inspected her, all through her body. It was a chilling sort of intimacy, one that passed beyond physicality into the very depths of Sly Moore’s own being. She stopped herself from reaching out in return, and coiling together, as was so natural to do with a being of greater power than her own. She felt him handling her essence in the Force, weighing it in his own, pushing and pulling at its weaknesses until he was satisfied. He had tested those weaknesses more ruthlessly in the past, through torture of Sly Moore’s mind and body, and she knew that no matter the result of this meeting, he would do so in the future. This was a formality.</p><p>           “You are prodigious in the Force,” said Lord Sidious. “If the Jedi had come upon you, as I did, you might one day have led their wretched Order. How fortunate it is, that a different path has claimed you.”</p><p>           “I am grateful for your teachings, Master.”</p><p>           Lord Sidious was looking past her now, and she followed his gaze. She turned slowly, and it was only then that she noticed a hostage, bound and gagged on the floor. He was flanked by two of Lord Sidious’ Red Guard.</p><p>           “Do you recognize this man, Sly Moore?” said Lord Sidious.</p><p>           “I do not.”</p><p>           The Red Guards undid the man’s restraints, and shoved him to his feet. He was a Jedi, clearly, and Sly Moore could feel in the Force that he was a powerful one.</p><p>           “This is Jedi Master Roan Shryne,” said Lord Palpatine. “Taken hostage during the assault on the Jedi Temple. He is strong in the currents of the Cosmic Force.”</p><p>           “Why have we brought him here, Master?”</p><p>           “A test.”</p><p>           Lord Sidious was up and out of his chair now, and as he walked to Sly Moore’s side, he held a lightsaber with the Force, rotating slowly above his palm.</p><p>           The Jedi spoke. “I won’t do it, Sith. I won’t play your game.”</p><p>           “Defeat her,” said Lord Sidious, “And you will go free, with passage to the Outer Rim.”</p><p>           “A Jedi does not kill only to save his own life.”</p><p>           “Kill?” said Lord Sidious. “You need not kill this dark witch,” he said, and he placed a hand on Sly Moore’s shoulder. “Simply…prove, to me, that you can best her, and that will be more than enough to earn you your survival.”</p><p>           The Jedi glowered at Lord Sidious, but at the same time, reached out with the Force and pulled his lightsaber back to him. The blade ignited a bright blue.</p><p>           Lord Sidious nodded to one of the Red Guards, who reached into his cloak and produced Sly Moore’s own training saber. He tossed it to her, and she took it naturally, feeling the weight of it in her hand. It was a crude thing—though it shone a blade of red, it was translucent, and carried none of the power that would allow her to slay a Jedi enemy. No, that was not its purpose, only to guide her in learning the ways of the lightsaber. Lord Sidious had been wise to train her in Shii-Cho, the most wild of all of the forms, to match her power in the Force.</p><p>           “I will not fail you, Master,” said Sly Moore.</p><p>           “On penalty of death,” said Lord Sidious. “I should hope that you will not.”</p><p>           The Jedi was stalking toward her now, and Lord Sidious backed away. Sly Moore took the opportunity to probe at him through the Force. The Jedi was fractured, leaking darkness from poorly-concealed stress points, and Sly Moore did not need to interact with his signature for long in order to experience the flood of memories he had been reliving. Defending the Temple, watching his young charges die, attempting to flee in the chaos, being caught…it was fascinating, to her, to be able to hold a Jedi’s sorrow and turn it over in her mind. She took hold of it, and expanded it outward, so it pushed and strained against what structure remained in the Jedi’s spirit.</p><p>           The Jedi attacked her with a powerful overhead cleave, and she raised her blade to block. His swing crashed down on her with unexpected force, and she twisted him aside to disengage. He hit again, from low, and then again, twirling the blade to disorient her before hitting her with a powerful shunting strike. She barely caught it in time.</p><p>           The Jedi laughed. “This is what you offer, to test me? She is barely trained! I can see why you’ve given her a dull saber.”</p><p>           Sly Moore snarled, and she wheeled her saber around in both hands. She chopped at him, now, five and seven and ten times in a series of quick slashes that she thought were rather well-executed. But the Jedi clearly did not share her view of it, and he barely thought it worth his time to backpedal and block. His riposte was quick and lethal, and though she managed to duck off the line of the strike, she was slowly becoming aware that her knowledge of the blade was, perhaps, insufficient.</p><p>           But then, it had been extraneous, anyway. Sly Moore would have loved to impress Lord Sidious with the technique and finesse of her bladework, but if those were not elements she possessed, that was a very small loss in the grand view of her capabilities.</p><p>           The Jedi came again to attack, and this time, she deactivated her blade. She lifted a hand, just a hand, and froze the Jedi in midair, his own sword just inches away from her forehead.</p><p>           She twitched her fingers, and he was blasted back into the far wall.</p><p>           The Jedi shook his head and got back to his feet. This time, when he charged, Sly Moore just waved her hand back and forth slightly, buffeting him with nudges that knocked him off his feet each time.</p><p>           The Jedi raised his lightsaber again, when he finally got to her, and tried to run her through. But she caught it with the palm of her hand, and pushed the blade back into the hilt.</p><p>           The Jedi’s eyes widened, and Sly Moore knew she had him.</p><p>           She reached deep inside the saber, with the Force. The Jedi stumbled away, hands clapped over his ears. Sly Moore couldn’t hear it, but she knew that the Jedi’s crystal was screaming to him for help as she attacked its purity.</p><p>           And then the Jedi was sent blasted back to the wall again, robes smoking, this time with a torrent of Sly Moore’s own lightning. It came out pure white from her fingertips; neither she nor Lord Sidious truly knew why, but it seemed to be effective.</p><p>           She looked over to Lord Sidious. He was focused on the Jedi, on the manifestation of her power and intent, and she understood.</p><p>           The Jedi could hardly stand, now, but he got his feet under him eventually. He raised a hand toward her, but…no. Sly Moore beat him to it, and she reached out with the Force to grab his hand with her own. She pulled him to her, and grasped his wrist with one hand, and his face with the other.</p><p>           The Jedi convulsed as she drained out his Force essence, for a long several seconds. When she was finally sated, he collapsed on the ground, and before much longer his twitching had subsided and he was gone.</p><p>           Sly Moore turned back to Lord Sidious, and she knelt at his feet. “Master,” she said, softly. “Thank you for this Jedi.”</p><p>           Lord Sidious rumbled in the Force. “Sly Moore,” he said, slowly, as if each syllable was lifted from the Dark Side itself. He reached inside his cloak, and from it, he pulled a lightsaber she had never seen before. It was a faded chrome, larger at one end and flowered like the head of a mace. It was pristine.</p><p>           “The blade of Darth Cognus,” Lord Sidious continued. “Disciple of Zannah, student of Bane. It will serve you well, should you learn to wield it. To…master it.”</p><p>           By instinct, Sly Moore’s hand shot upward to catch it as he flung it at her. She ignited it immediately. The blade shone a deep, electric violet. She lowered it, so that it hung just inches above the floor.</p><p>           “Henceforth,” said Lord Sidious. “You shall be known as…Darth Moor.”</p><p>           The Dark Side crackled and sparked, and Darth Moor allowed a thin smile to break over her face. She lifted her eyes to meet his.</p><p>           “I shall serve you well, my lord,” she said.</p><p>           “And you are anointed.” Lord Sidious turned back toward his desk. “You will go to the planet Kashyyyk. The Wookiees are in open rebellion, to avenge the death of Master Yoda. Break their will, and demonstrate to the Galaxy that not even the strongest of worlds can hope to stand against us. Destroy all who seek to oppose you.”</p><p>           Darth Moor bowed deeply, fully. “As you command, Master.”</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p>          </p><p>           Darth Moor had never understood the Senate’s fascination with the plight of the Wookiees, nor the sway and respect they seemed to hold among the people of the Galaxy. In the Senate, she had always found their representatives to be tiresome, and blatantly unwashed. And now, having seen their world, they seemed to so clearly lack any form of true civilization that Darth Moor was shocked they hadn’t suffered the same fate as the monkey-lizards. Their technology was clearly an imitation, their culture an abomination…but this was why Lord Sidious’ grand plan was so wise indeed. Kashyyyk was a shining example of the Galaxy’s desperate need for empire.</p><p>           She emerged from her shuttle and was immediately greeted by several clone officers, all standing in their perfect parade rest. “Speak,” she said.</p><p>           “Your Excellency! We’ve begun the offensive against the Wookiee capitol stronghold. Civilians are being ordered to shelter in place, and-“</p><p>           “Do not waste time on civilians,” said Darth Moor, and she began to walk past them. She augmented her speed a bit through the Force, and enjoyed how they struggled to keep up. “Those who cause trouble will be summarily executed, and those who do not will be rounded up and offered the privilege of contributing to the prosperity of the Empire, through their…innate physical talents.”</p><p>           One of the clones made an audible gasp. “Your Excellency,” he said. “Surely, you don’t intend to turn them into slaves.”</p><p>           “And surely you do not wish to mark yourself treasonous, so early into your new military career.” She did not bother to listen for his reaction, instead registering the shame and fear in the Force and prodding at it to make it bigger. Set on the right path, the soldier would be out of his mind within a week, an example to his counterparts that disobeying the Empire’s will was a choice that would shake them to their core. The trooper followed along, silent now.</p><p>           The clone who had taken the lead answered her original thought. “Your Excellency,” he said. “As you command, we will weed out the noncompliant.”</p><p>           “You must do more than that.”</p><p>           “More, Your Excellency?”</p><p>           “Burn the villages,” Darth Moor said, and her lip curled upward just a bit as she felt the troops’ loyalty win out over their morals. “And let them see it. Show the Wookiees who survive that they have nothing to fight for here. Break their spirits, and they will become grateful for the stability and safety their Empire guarantees.”</p><p>           The clone nodded. “Yes, sir!”</p><p>           “Set to work. I will have a path cleared to the Wookiee leaders within the hour.” Darth Moor quickened her pace, now, and left the officers behind her, as the sounds of battle grew closer.</p><p>           The saber of Cognus hung heavy at Darth Moor’s belt, and she took it in her hand to set it alight. The soldiers on the front line saw her coming, and they whooped and cheered. Darth Moor wondered what it was about their chips that helped them not to interpret her as a Jedi, but then, she also didn’t much care.</p><p>           Darth Moor had never visited a battle before. But she had read about them, studied their victors, and that was enough. She raised her blade, and charged headlong into the fray.</p><p>           Lord Sidious had been exceedingly sparing in his material gifts to Darth Moor, before she was Moor. But he had been generous with one, and only one, sacred item: holocrons. They had taught her all she needed to know.</p><p>           She had learned a powerful Force Wave from the holocron of Ajunta Pall, and she cast her arms out wide, splintering Wookiee defenses and tossing their warriors thirty meters away from where they’d been. The troopers seized the initiative and pressed forward, shooting them where they lay on the ground.</p><p>           There were two treatises above all others that discussed the use of Force Lightning: the fundamental and astute word of Marka Ragnos, and the more crudely written but effective bastardization created by Exar Kun. While Darth Moor appreciated the emphasis on fine and calculated power-application in the Ragnos thesis, on a personal level she was far more inclined toward the expression of wrath for which Exar Kun had advocated, and she did as he had taught: to pull not from her hatred, but from the righteousness of her vision for where she stood. Lightning burst forth from both of her hands and leapt from one Wookiee to the next, stopping their hearts where they stood.</p><p>           She continued the charge as the Wookiees started to retreat. She was upon them with her saber, whirling and spinning to cause fear as she had been taught in the writings of Darth Bane. <em>Become a being unlike what they have seen among intelligent creatures,</em> he had said. <em>Mirror the ferocity they imagine in animals whose names they have only whispered, and apply your offensive from vectors they have never considered. This is how to break the will of armies, when you are only but one.</em></p><p>           Darth Moor enjoyed the way Wookiee fur cut on Cognus’ sword.</p><p>           She led the troops down into a settlement, on toward the valley where the Wookiee capitol was built. She curled her fingers and their homes were instantly set aflame. This was a relic from the teachings of Darth Marr, and despite the heretic he eventually became, Darth Moor had always enjoyed conversing with the version of him that was stored within his holocron.</p><p>           She closed her eyes, and extended her mind over the battlefield. In every being, clone and Wookiee, she seized upon their fear and forced it to grow into an overwhelming sensation of terror and rot. That was the gift Darth Jadus had passed on to her, through the single, solitary scroll he had left behind.</p><p>           As she did all this, she was running through the village with her men behind her, wildly slashing after any opponent who came into her reach. After a lifetime of public decorum and private study, it was delicious to be living inside of her own power for the first time. Her Master had denied her for so very long, but even so newly anointed Darth, she was more deeply awash in the Dark Side of the Force than Dooku, or Maul, or that accursed Rakghoul-spawn usurper Ventress had ever been.</p><p>           Thankfully, the Wookiees didn’t stand against her long enough that more than one at a time would shoot her way. That would have been an issue. The saber of Cognus was beautiful, but it felt as unnatural in Darth Moor’s hand as any blade ever had. The Force was a far more potent weapon.</p><p>           She came to the sheer cliff face that looked down onto the Wookiee capitol. This next part would be tricky—she knew all the steps, in an academic sense, but to her knowledge a fusion of the three had never before been attempted. It would require the fear-manipulation of Darth Jadus again to assist her, paired with the essence-draining techniques perfected by Darths Malak and Nihilus…but then entered into a fusion with the state of Oneness in the Force that only Darth Malgus had achieved.</p><p>           She steeled her nerves, and leapt high into the air, and let the Force carry her body up and over the city. Then she hung there in the sky and for a sweet, blessed moment, gazed upon the carnage below as it was wrought upon every street and wroshyr tree.</p><p>           She took a breath, and extended her awareness through the Force. For her, and only her, time seemed to slow and all went dark in her mind.</p><p>           Lights flickered, one by one until the entire mental surface below her was arranged in stars, each one representing one of the city’s inhabitants. She felt herself above it all, an absence of that light, and she reached tendrils out through the Force. They crept down like roots until each one connected with an individual shining light, until she was connected to everything and everyone in that city.</p><p>           She remembered the words of Jadus, and pulsed <em>fear</em> into them, one wave that caused every light to dim.</p><p>           That anchored her to them. Their distress fed into her as much as her awareness fed into them, and she reached out along each connection to strengthen it.</p><p>           Then it was Malak’s words, precisely, and Nihilus’ words, taken in profound moderation. She deepened the void in herself, such that a stream of Force energy was siphoned up each individual root. The Force, unknowingly, tried to balance out the vacuum it felt at one end, and instead simply brought that energy closer to her. She sucked it to her, and she feasted upon it.</p><p>           It was important to fill the space she created, with more of the fear. She let it bubble into the empty space inside each being, fear and dread and paralysis of mind that would likely stay with them for years. As she took the Light, she supplanted it with Dark, and no being in the city was any the wiser.</p><p>           And then she brought her mind to Malgus. She remembered the long lectures on how to open herself to the Cosmic Force in every part, and reach outward until the Darkness in the Galaxy connected with the Darkness in her. Malgus had spoken about what it felt like to be immersed, to join wholly with the fullness of his being, and she felt close-</p><p>           No. She was brought back to herself, and although she could feel in the Force that she had opened some sort of conduit with the Darkness such that they might better flow into each other, Darth Moor felt nothing of the sort Malgus had described.</p><p>           Her quest for Oneness would wait, then. Kashyyyk’s capitol had been won, and she could busy herself with reminding the surviving rebels of that fact.</p><p>           She let herself be carried into free-fall, down toward the city, and the light of a million souls slowly contributed themselves to her power.</p><p>           Darth Moor had a Galaxy to usurp, to gain this feeling, to eventually gain Oneness. And she would. After all, every Sith worth his saber had contributed their knowledge to her, and she would become them all, in time.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Jaster leaned over Obi-Wan’s shoulder, crowded between Anakin and Rex. Ahsoka had wormed herself into the crook of Obi-Wan’s arm, to get a good look at the datapad he was holding, and Master Yoda just listened from the other end of the conference table with Bail and Padme. They all listened and their heart sank, as the new Emperor drudged through his sixth daily address to the Galaxy.</p><p>           Their focus, though, was not on the Emperor. It was on the figure behind him, standing imposing, eyes transfixed on the holocam.</p><p>           “Is that…Sly Moore?” Ahsoka said softly.</p><p>           “That’s her,” said Anakin.</p><p>           “What’s that on her skin?”</p><p>           “Sith tattoos,” Obi-Wan sighed. “They look fresh, too.” Sly Moore’s scalp was covered in the same Sith-style artwork that had adorned the body of Maul, though in Moore’s case, her face was unblemished. Her eyes shone yellow. Bright yellow.</p><p>           Jaster turned to Anakin. “You knew her, right? Did you know she was Force-sensitive?”</p><p>           “I knew she had some connection. I didn’t think it was deep enough that she was his apprentice. But I didn’t think he could feel the Force, then, either.”</p><p>           “She may not always have been,” Obi-Wan said. “Sidious kept Maul from a young age, more as a weapon than a true apprentice. Perhaps that is what she is, as well.”</p><p>           Anakin nodded. “There are rumors that he took her in as a child, an orphan.”</p><p>           Sly Moore turned her body slightly to the side, and Ahsoka gasped. “Is that a lightsaber?”</p><p>           Jaster frowned. “Does anybody recognize it?”</p><p>           The others mumbled no, after a moment to ponder.</p><p>           “Well, that’s good, at least.” Jaster looked closer at her, and the new black robes she’d swaddled herself in.</p><p>           Anakin was fuming, clearly. “She’s supposed to be my replacement, then. Right?”</p><p>           “I’m afraid so,” said Obi-Wan. “He may still intend to get to you. Do not let your guard down.”</p><p>           “How dangerous do you think she is?” said Rex. “Surely we can’t have another Ventress on her hands.”</p><p>           “No, I fear Ventress may seem tame once we’ve dealt with her.” Obi-Wan was scrutinizing her, intently. “If she is able to fill the place Sidious carved out for Anakin, even if only temporarily, she is likely to be quite powerful.”</p><p>           “Then let’s deal with her,” said Anakin.</p><p>           Jaster shook his head. “We won’t be able to. Not yet.”</p><p>           “What? I can take her, I-“</p><p>           “No, I know,” said Jaster. “But Sidious is playing from a position of strength, and he knows it. He’s not going to send her out with anything but overwhelming odds on her side. If we can lure her into a trap the right way, with time and preparation and with our variables controlled, then maybe.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan nodded. “Jaster is right,” he said. “She will not be vulnerable for some time, unless <em>she</em> chooses to overreach. And we are nowhere near that time.”</p><p>           Anakin pushed the chair he’d been leaning against, and he stormed out from the room. Padme followed him, and around the screen, the rest of them shared a look.</p><p>           Then they got back to it, and together they gleaned what they could about the new Sith Lord.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Six Days after Knightfall</em>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. A New Hope</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So sorry for the delay on this most recent chapter! Life stuck itself squarely in the way of writing and hasn't really moved, although I managed to jiggle it enough to squeeze this chapter through. Hope you enjoy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>One Week after Knightfall</em>
</p><p> </p><p>           Anakin paused for a moment at Padme’s door, as he had many times when he visited her during the war, to show the briefest solidarity with whichever of her handmaidens had been working with her then. The four of them, Sabe especially, had become friends of his as they had grown accustomed to each other. It was a natural connection; they had sworn an oath to protect Padme’s life with their own, and he had sworn an oath of his own to do the same. Beyond that, all of them were possessed of a fierceness and a wit that reminded him of Padme herself. Perhaps it was just how Nabooian women were.</p><p>           Now, without the war bearing down upon them, Anakin and Sabe shared a long look before they went in. Anakin showed a little smile through the worry, and squeezed her arm. “Thank you for coming.”</p><p>           “I’ve worked alongside her for years,” Sabe murmured, both of them keeping their voices soft in the hallway. “I would die before I missed this.”</p><p>           Indeed, Sabe had come close. She and one of the other handmaidens, Motee, had had to make a number of difficult hyperspace jumps to ensure their shuttle wasn’t tracked to the rendezvous, and one had taken them a bit too close for comfort to a star. Motee, ever the professional pilot of the group, was able to deal with it. The two of them had only arrived hours before, and there was still no word on when the other two handmaidens would be able to get off Naboo with the small group of loyalist soldiers they’d collected.</p><p>           Getting Padme back to Coruscant, after having been gone for so long, would already have been difficult. But keeping her safe so close to the Emperor was going to be a delicate task indeed.</p><p>           Anakin and Sabe separated, and Motee joined them, arms full with supplies from the medbay. Together, they stepped inside.</p><p>           Padme was resting as best she could on the cot Bail had supplied, an hour into contractions. Beside her head, Yoda was seated upon a pedestal. His eyes were closed and he murmured to himself in meditation. His hand gripped Padme’s shoulder tightly.</p><p>           Ahsoka was there, busying herself with washing down anything they might need, and the medical droid was executing its protocols. The handmaidens joined Ahsoka. In hushed tones they sorted through their supplies.</p><p>           Anakin knelt down at Padme’s side. She had had her eyes closed as well, but she opened them when he took her hand.</p><p>           “How do you feel?” said Anakin.</p><p>           “The pain isn’t too bad yet.”</p><p>           “I’ll be here the whole time.”</p><p>           “I know you will.”</p><p>           Anakin rested his hand on her belly. “Boy or girl?”</p><p>           “I suppose we’ll know soon.” She winced, and blew out slowly as she settled back against the cot.</p><p>           Ahsoka and the handmaidens gathered around.</p><p>           Yoda didn’t open his eyes, but he raised his other hand to keep their attention. “Begin, we will, with your permission.” His face twitched just a bit. “Padme,” he said after the slightest of pauses, and Anakin could see that it was difficult for him to address her as a friend rather than a Senator. “Ready, are you?”</p><p>           “Yes.”</p><p>           “Painless, it will be, once immersed in the Force, you are,” said Yoda. “Feel it like we do, you may not, but feel warm, you will. Feel at peace, you will.”</p><p>           Padme nodded. “And what will you do?”</p><p>           “Commune with the child, I will, and with your essence in the Force, to ease this passage.”</p><p>           Padme nodded. Anakin felt Yoda thrum with power, and he reached out to offer his own. Graciously, Yoda accepted.</p><p>           Ahsoka caught his eye, from across the cot. “Have you done this before?”</p><p>           “Never.”</p><p>           “Are you ready?”</p><p>           Anakin grimaced. “As I’ll ever be.”</p><p>           Padme’s breathing quickened, but her eyes had closed easy. She held Anakin’s hand, but without force or panic.</p><p>           Beside her, Yoda grunted. Padme’s eyes fluttered, but almost immediately Yoda caught her and eased her under again.</p><p>           Yoda chuckled to himself, and shook his head.</p><p>           “Master?” Ahsoka said.</p><p>           Yoda ignored her, and chuckled again, and then real laughter bubbled up from inside him. It was like nothing Anakin had ever heard Yoda produce, an odd mix of throat-noises and occasional high chirps. As Anakin watched his face, he realized Yoda was smiling in a way he had never seen, too.</p><p>           Sabe and Motee shared a concerned look, lifting Padme’s gown to ensure nothing had gone wrong. Anakin watched Yoda, bemused, as the centuries-old Grandmaster giggled to himself about some hidden joke.</p><p>           Eventually Ahsoka had enough, and she reached out to Yoda’s shoulder. “Master. What’s going on?”</p><p>           Yoda came to, and shook his head, and forced words out through his smile. “Yes, young one. Perhaps more than a little addled, these past weeks have left me.”</p><p>           “But what’s going on?”</p><p>           “Always two, there are,” Yoda said, and then he snorted. Anakin couldn’t quite believe that when he heard it. “Always two,” he said, and he crowed laughter again.</p><p>           Padme’s eyes opened, and though she was submerged now in the Force, she had clearly understood enough to know something Anakin didn’t. “There are two?”</p><p>           “Two,” Yoda confirmed, and gave himself one last opportunity to exhaust his amusement. He looked to Anakin. “Twins.”</p><p>           Anakin’s eyes widened, but as he probed at the child again through the Force, as he had many times before, he found a near-imperceptible separation at the center of the child’s brilliant presence. Yoda was right—there were two in there, both incredibly powerful and so tightly woven together that they were impossible to distinguish. Despite himself, he, too, choked out a little surprised laugh. Ahsoka rolled her eyes at him, but smiled all the same.</p><p>           They waited like that for an hour, as Yoda eased Padme through the process. In some brief moments, she sucked in air or twinged with surprise, but Yoda had a steady command of her perception. Sabe and Motee were steady in dealing with parts Anakin somehow still lacked the stomach for, despite several years of wartime generalship, and all the while Ahsoka’s presence was there, sending him <em>calm</em> and <em>reassure</em> and <em>steady</em> through the Force.</p><p>           Something shifted, and then there was screaming, a child’s screaming. Motee busied herself for a moment, and then produced Anakin’s first child. She handed it to him. She handed <em>her</em> to him.</p><p>           “Padme,” Anakin whispered, and her eyes opened. Together, they took in every detail of their daughter’s red, wrinkled face. Anakin swelled and nearly burst with emotion, tearful and joyous, and Padme clearly felt the same, even through the haze Yoda had given her.</p><p>           “Leia,” Padme said softly, and Leia cried back at her. “Leia.”</p><p>           “Leia,” said Anakin, and his voice broke over the name.</p><p>           Next to him, Sabe cleared her throat.</p><p>           “There’s two, you know,” she said, grinning wide. She held up another infant. <em>Anakin’s son</em>.</p><p>           Anakin passed Leia to her mother, and he took the boy in his arms. Now, he choked out a little laugh, because it was all he could do in such a moment. He held the child close. This one was quieter, both in his crying and in the Force.</p><p>           Padme reached out with her free hand, and ran her fingers down the baby’s cheek. “Luke,” she said, and Anakin nodded with wide eyes.</p><p>           “Luke and Leia,” he said. “Yeah.”</p><p>           He looked over to Ahsoka. Her eyes were brimming. His probably were, too.</p><p>           Sabe and Motee had cleaned Padme up a fair amount, it seemed, enough that they could step around to near her head. They each placed a hand on one of her shoulders, as she looked down at Leia in her arms and at Luke in Anakin’s. Sabe bent down and wrapped her arms around Padme, clearly overjoyed in her own way.</p><p>           Master Yoda was still deep in meditation, but in the Force, he thrummed with happiness and relief.</p><p>           Ahsoka was next to Anakin, now. “Please?” she said, and she reached out her arms. Anakin smiled and handed Luke to her, guiding her arm into place around his head in a way Anakin didn’t remember ever learning himself. Despite the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order watching from just a meter away, Anakin hugged Ahsoka tight around the shoulders, and rested his forehead on hers. She held his child tight and cooed at Luke until his crying slowed.</p><p>           Leia was still screaming, and Anakin reached out for her. He sent waves of <em>calm</em> and <em>soothe</em> to his daughter, which appeared to have a little bit of effect. Anakin was struck by the strength of her in the Force, and of Luke, as well. They felt like Yoda felt. In fact, they probably felt like what Anakin felt like, to others. They were each a wellspring of pure, radiant Light, a ray of hope that cut t hrough the Galaxy as a whole. In any other time, he would have amplified it to drown out the Darkness around him, but now instead he slid his mental shields into place to make up for their openness. He felt Yoda doing the same, and Ahsoka, and Jaster and Obi-Wan from across the ship.</p><p>           He commed Obi-Wan, and within a moment he was there too, with Jaster and Rex bursting in behind him. They all crowded around the cot, and Luke and Leia were shown to everyone as the grown-ups laughed and the infants cried.</p><p>           They stayed like that for a long while, inside a moment that held cause to be happy. But as time passed, Anakin began to catch subtle signals from Padme, the way she had begun to shut down in her voice and in her expressions. Anakin was familiar with that tendency.</p><p>           He knelt by her side, and they looked down at Luke together, while all the others fawned over Leia. “What’s wrong?” Anakin murmured.</p><p>           “I’m fine,” she said. She could do nothing to hide the strain in her voice.</p><p>           “What’s hurting?”</p><p>           “No, it’s not anything hurting.” Her voice was softer than usual, and she didn’t take her eyes off Luke even to glance at him. He waited for her to speak. “I can’t leave them,” she said, finally.</p><p>           Anakin grinned at her. “You don’t have to,” he said. He put his arm around her shoulder. “You can stay.”</p><p>           “No, I have to go back-“</p><p>           “No, I mean it. Of course you don’t have to go back.”</p><p>           She turned and looked at him—glared at him—and Anakin realized immediately he’d said something wrong.</p><p>           “No.” The others heard her speak, and very quickly everyone was paying attention. “No, I have to go back to Coruscant. I can’t leave them behind.”</p><p>           “Padme-“</p><p>           “I can’t, Anakin,” she snapped. She was very angry, then. “I’m their mother, they are my children. I can’t leave them here for who knows how long.”</p><p>           Anakin couldn’t help but frown. “Well, they can’t just go back to Coruscant-“</p><p>           “Yes they can, I can protect them.”</p><p>           “No, you can’t!”</p><p>           Obi-Wan knelt down beside Anakin. “If I may,” he said, slipping seamlessly into the Negotiator. “Sidious’ control has extended far beyond where it once was. While we may have been able to protect the children in past circumstances-“</p><p>           Padme narrowed her eyes. “He will not take my children from me.”</p><p>           “Then stay here,” Anakin said, trying to keep his temper in check. “Stay here where we can keep them safe together.”</p><p>           “I cannot betray the people of Naboo.”</p><p>           “The people of Naboo would understand!”</p><p>           “The Galaxy is dying!” Padme’s voice broke. “The Galaxy is dying, and I will not stand by to see the peace we all worked so hard for, as it is usurped by <em>Senator Palpatine</em>. I’m going back and I will not leave my children behind.” She reached for Leia, and Jaster immediately acquiesced and deposited the baby in her arm. “I won’t leave them behind.”</p><p>           “Sidious knows about them!” Anakin said. Now, he was red in the face too, shame and guilt just barely not washing over the fear he felt for the twins. “They had a massive presence in the Force, and if he was blind enough to miss you carrying them, then he wouldn’t have been able to do anything he’s just done. He knows about them, and he almost got me. He can’t steal them away.”</p><p>           “I would never!” Padme was yelling back at him. “I would never allow him to take Luke and Leia. He would have to kill me.”</p><p>           “And do you think he wouldn’t? Look at where we are! Look at what happened!”</p><p>           “He wouldn’t dare touch a sitting Senator or her children.”</p><p>           “He dared bring down the karking Jedi Order! What makes you think for one second that he wouldn’t kill you in your bed? From his office, with a wave of his hand? That’s what he <em>does</em>, Padme, he kills and he takes and he <em>will</em> kill you to take our children. They <em>will not</em> go back to Coruscant!”</p><p>           Anakin felt the heat on his eyes, and when he lifted his hand he realized he was crying. They were both crying. Slowly, Padme’s look of indignation was being overcome by mortal dread, and as much as it hurt, Anakin could see she had heard him.</p><p>           Around the room, everyone just watched, knowing it was far safer to be silent than to risk either Anakin’s or Padme’s wrath.</p><p>           Padme’s voice was shaking, when she spoke again. “I can’t leave them.”</p><p>           “Then <em>stay</em>.”</p><p>           “But Naboo-“</p><p>           “Naboo is going to burn if Sidious decides he wants it to.” Anakin’s voice was hard. “It will live, if he wants it to. That’s what his empire will be, I know it. It won’t matter if you’re standing in front of him or not.”</p><p>           “I can buy them time.”</p><p>           “You can try and fail, or you can let somebody else do that. But if you go, you might never see Luke and Leia again. He might not let you live that long.”</p><p>           Padme wiped at her face, and bounced Luke in her arms to keep him settled. “I can’t give up on my people.”</p><p>           Anakin showed not an ounce of compassion. “Then do what you need to do. I’ll take care of our children, and look for ways we can really fight back instead of stepping in front of a firing squad.” He reached for Leia, and Jaster handed the infant to him without objection. Anakin stuck out his other hand in Luke’s direction. “Don’t let us get in the way.”</p><p>           Padme was shaking by the time Luke finally made it into Anakin’s arms. Without another word, Anakin turned on his heel and left, one twin tucked into each arm. After a few quick looks around the circle, Ahsoka went after him.</p><p>           Padme burst into tears, and though Sabe knelt at her side to try and speak to her, it was no use. Or, at least, not for quite some time.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Several standard rotations had passed, and for Jaster at least, things on the ship felt no less tense in the Force than they had just after the children were born. Padme and Anakin had decided that avoiding each other was the best way to reconcile their differences, and Jaster was quite sure that he’d noticed them both seeming very familiar with that option to deal with each other. Then again, Jaster considered, it would have been much easier to do during a galactic war campaign than on a cruiser in dead space. Padme still seemed set on a return to Coruscant, and on the company of her children when she went. Anakin was equally dead-set, in the opposing direction.</p><p>           They had, of course, shared care for the children, and that had been facilitated through Yoda’s guidance. Yoda had hardly left the twins’ side since they had been born, and from what Jaster could tell from the old Jedi’s Force signature, his goal was halfway to construct tight shields around the children’s minds and obscure them from Sidious, and halfway to distract himself from the horrors of the Galaxy by bathing himself in their light. Yoda was not doing well, that much was certain, and Jaster couldn’t very well blame him.</p><p>           Obi-Wan wasn’t much better. He had sunk in and out of meditation for quite some time, and although he had claimed he had a practical purpose—communing with the Force and trying to probe out little navigable pathways through the darkness that was thick on everything—in the times Jaster had joined him, he had found his former Master simply idling in the Force. He was stalling himself, or dissociating within the meditation, or…something, Jaster really didn’t know his particular brand of escapism as well as Anakin would have. It was beyond Jaster’s genuine interest, anyway.</p><p>           Ahsoka and Rex, by contrast, had both shifted into support positions, doing their best to lift others’ spirits and keep themselves busy. They probed the Holonet for endless hours in search of good news, and spent the rest of their time attaching themselves to Anakin or Padme or Yoda and listening to whatever they had to say, so that Ahsoka or Rex themselves might not need to think. Jaster probably should have sought out their company, like he had so often before.</p><p>           But he had found that company, recently, only ate away at him. To see somebody Jaster loved was to reach out to them, through the Force, and every time his will extended past his body it was out there in the Cosmic Force. That was still a hellscape. Jaster had heard the stories of old, ancient Sith creating wounds in the Force, and he had to imagine that such a wound would be analogous to what the Galaxy felt like. Jaster’s mental shields were strong, yes, but that only prevented the intrusion of unwelcome others behind his perimeter. Choosing to extend himself beyond the perimeter left him without such protection, every time.</p><p>           So he had retreated, taking only his meals and his meditation with Obi-Wan, and bearing through the checkups from Ahsoka and Rex every few hours via commlink. He had focused inward, and found paper—not a datapad, but real Alderaanian parchment—in one of the little supply closets on board. He had written until every inch of those sheets was covered in his scrawl, and then he had found more and filled those, too. It was all he could do to distract himself from the festering Force energy that had permeated their ship. After all, Anakin more than anyone had opened himself up to festering in the last few days. It infected them all, and sunk gloom into them.</p><p>           By the fourth day, though, Jaster had begun to realize that there would be very little happening on board the <em>Tantive IV</em> without an intervention. Bail had since had to leave in order to orchestrate the delivery of their sister ship, and keep up appearances on Coruscant, so there was nobody else except Sabe who had the ability anymore to be fed up with wallowing. It had been eleven days since the attack on the Temple, and Jaster had failed to stop himself from ruminating on what horrors must be going on in the wider Galaxy as the Empire took hold.</p><p>           So he called a meeting.</p><p>           It was a far different feeling than it had been last time they all sat around the <em>Tantive</em> conference table, for better and for worse. Anakin and Padme had very pointedly taken the furthest seats from each other, each holding a sleeping Skywalker baby. Next to Padme, Sabe and Motee had found seats, and then Obi-Wan, and Yoda, and Ahsoka. Rex was next to her, cooing into the crook of Anakin’s arm at Leia as she yawned and gurgled.</p><p>           They all looked up at Jasper, more confused than anything else, as the young Falleen shuffled his notes and steeled himself for the discussion to come.</p><p>           “Thank you all for coming,” he said softly. It was enough to snatch everyone’s attention. “I understand that the past few days have been difficult for all of us. As we grieve.”</p><p>           Around the table, a few of the others nodded their heads.</p><p>           Jaster turned to Padme. “Look,” he said, and Padme smiled sadly at him, as though she already knew what he was going to say. “I don’t claim to make decisions for you. For any of you. But I’ve gamed it all out too many times, and I’ve exhausted every available option. You can’t go back to Coruscant.”</p><p>           He paused, waiting for the inevitable protest from Padme, or the outburst from Anakin. Neither came. Instead, Anakin looked at him with a peculiar blend of resentment and relief, and Padme just wore that same tired, sad expression.</p><p>           “We are aware that the children were close enough to Sidious that he would have been aware of at least one. If Sidious has an opportunity to collect a child nearly as powerful as their father, let alone two children of that power, I am convinced he will stop at nothing to have them. We know how valuable it is to raise a Jedi from infancy, and I imagine the same must be true for a Sith.”</p><p>           Sabe leaned forward. “We’ve been working through alternatives, but I’m afraid I agree. There is nothing that even the best bodyguard force could do to stop the resources the Emperor has. We will give our lives to protect Luke and Leia, but it will not matter.”</p><p>           Jaster nodded. They hadn’t discussed anything at all, and so he was doubly glad for her support now. “Even worse, the children could be used as a tool to get to Anakin.”</p><p>           “Wait-“</p><p>           “It’s not an insult,” Jaster said, and he fixed Anakin with a firm look. “I know that you would do anything in your power to protect those children. But we are aware of the depth of the plots Sidious lays. None of us can afford to be caught in them again, least of all you.”</p><p>           Anakin huffed, but his presence in the Force had made it clear that Jaster’s point had been received.</p><p>           “Barring that, I don’t think there’s much point to you going back to Coruscant alone,” said Jaster. “It’s the same reason. Once you are in Sidious’ control, you are a tool for him. That would be true of any of us. Returning to Coruscant will make you his tool, even if you’re alone…because he knows Anakin is alive, and he can probably guess that any children you had are with him.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan looked at Anakin. “I hope you know that we only act to protect you because of the threat Sidious poses. Nobody in the Galaxy can stand against him alone, now.”</p><p>           “I understand.”</p><p>           Jaster shuffled his papers. “That brings me to the other part of this.” He turned to Rex. “Do you feel right, staying here on the ship? Waiting?”</p><p>           “No. Of course I don’t.”</p><p>           “Me neither. Ahsoka?”</p><p>           “No.”</p><p>           “Master Yoda?”</p><p>           Yoda grunted and lifted his head, as if he’d been caught dozing. “Hm?”</p><p>           “Do you think we should be continuing to sit and wait here, on this ship?”</p><p>           “Unsure, I am. But difficult to wait here, it is. This, I know.”</p><p>           Jaster nodded. “I feel the same. We said when we rendezvoused that we wanted to do something, to strike back. I would suggest that once the new ship arrives, we start doing some work to that end.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan shifted. “What do you have in mind?”</p><p>           “Direction.”</p><p>           “I agree,” Ahsoka said, quickly. “I don’t even care what we do, at this point. We have to do something.”</p><p>           “Yes, we do. Now, Anakin, Sabe, Motee, and I are confirmed to be alive. Rex, Ahsoka, don’t take it personally, but although we want to keep your survival a secret for as long as possible, that goal isn’t so important that you get to just sit around here like kings.”</p><p>           Rex grinned. “I like where this is going.”</p><p>           “Anakin,” said Jaster. “You may be a villain, according to the Empire, but you are a hero to the Republic. That reputation didn’t just go away when Sidious waved his hand. So many worlds are in active rebellion right now, and so many more could be, if they had somebody to lead them.”</p><p>           Anakin rubbed his chin. “So, appear on those worlds. Give endorsement to the revolts.”</p><p>           “It would have to be done carefully,” Jaster nodded. “I don’t think you should even reveal your identity for as long as you can help it, and you certainly shouldn’t go to these worlds for more than a standard hour or two at a time. We can’t risk Sidious or his new apprentice catching up. But as a Jedi, under the hood, with the saber, and with an entire Galaxy of discontented people to speculate about who you are and what you mean…we can create something out of that.”</p><p>           Now, Anakin had a light in his eyes. “Yeah. We can do that. Carefully.”</p><p>           “Obi-Wan, I’d like you to help,” said Jaster. “We need you here on the ship, mostly, as a contingency in case things ever go really wrong. But you and Anakin can work on crafting all the details of how those operations go, and if you think it’s safe, you can participate too as long as your identity remains hidden. Yours has to stay hidden.”</p><p>           “I understand,” said Obi-Wan.</p><p>           “Ahsoka, Rex, your focus should be different. Ahsoka’s face is lesser-known and you can easily disguise yourself, and Rex, you’re a clone. Strap some shiny armor on and you’re anybody. I want to find ways for you to take the fight to the Empire—sabotage, intelligence-gathering, whatever else we end up needing to get done. And Sabe, Motee, once the other Handmaidens arrive, you would both be valuable additions to that team. Assuming that you’re able to split your duties.”</p><p>           Sabe pursed her lips. “I think we can find a way.”</p><p>           “I’m glad to hear you saying this, kid,” said Rex. “It won’t be easy, but there aren’t many things I’d rather do right now than fight the Empire enslaving my brothers.”</p><p>           “And I’ll be there to help,” said Ahsoka. “However it’s needed.”</p><p>           Jaster turned to Yoda. “Master,” he said, “You’ve made clear that your focus should be the children, for now. That seems right to me, especially since it’s of extreme importance that Sidious thinks you’re dead.”</p><p>           “Yes,” Yoda said. “If alive, he suspects that I am, rally his forces, he may. To eliminate my threat.”</p><p>           “My thoughts exactly. So focus on Luke and Leia. Padme, are you alright with that?”</p><p>           “Yes,” she said. “And if I’ll be staying, I’ll want to help out, too.”</p><p>           “I think there could be a lot of long-term work for you,” Jaster nodded. “If we do manage to start building strength, we’ll need a message and a vision and-“</p><p>           “Right, right,” Padme said, waving her hand. “And I’ll do all that. And I’ll care for Luke and Leia. But I want to <em>do </em>things, too. I’m combat-trained as well as they are.” She gestured toward Sabe and Motee.</p><p>           Jaster grinned, half in support of Padme and half to enjoy the incredulity Anakin spun out through the Force. “Yes. Just tell me where, and…well, I should defer to-“</p><p>           “She will tell you where,” Obi-Wan said, and he sent Jaster reassurance. “This is your vision, and it is a good one.”</p><p>           Jaster inclined his head. “Thank you, Master.”</p><p>           “And what about you?” said Anakin. “Are you going to be sitting back here and waiting?”</p><p>           “I’ll help out across each area,” Jaster said. “But I’d like to focus on something else. Acquisitions.”</p><p>           “Supplies?”</p><p>           “No. Well, not mostly,” said Jaster. “But there are so many people out there looking for a way to fight back. And we aren’t dealing with a big ship here, but…we’ve got more beds than we can fill, right now, and some of those people who want to fight back are qualified to do it. I want to find them and bring them aboard. And I want to find Jedi.”</p><p>           Ahsoka frowned. “The rest of the Jedi are so far scattered by now-“</p><p>           “We all made it,” Jaster said. “Five of us. The odds of the only five Jedi surviving all making it to one place so quickly are…well, they’re beyond tiny. And if that’s not what happened, then there are other survivors out there, desperate and alone and afraid. I want to bring them back. And I want to bring back others who see the Empire how we see it. We have such a tiny force here, we have nothing even resembling a Jedi Order anymore…but we may be the brightest spark of rebellion in the Galaxy right now. I think we would all be fools not to try and make something from it.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Eleven Days after Knightfall.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well, that took much longer to write than I had hoped. Not sure when more updates will be coming, but they will come! This fic isn't even 10% of the way through what I'm envisioning for it, and I do intend to write it all.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Into Darkness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Fifteen Days after Knightfall</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Acquisitions:</em>
</p><p><em>Corellian Corvette, </em>Tantive II<em>, re-named: </em>Ashla</p><p><em>11 Alderaan Defense Fleet personnel (6 officers, 5 enlisted), to crew the </em>Ashla</p><p>
  <em>6 Royal Naboo Security Forces guardsmen, deserted</em>
</p><p>
  <em>4 Royal Naboo Security Forces Handmaidens, Amidala protection detail, deserted</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>           The <em>Ashla</em> was nearly indistinguishable from the <em>Tantive IV</em>, in all aspects except for the quiet. The <em>Tantive</em> hadn’t been crowded, by any measure, but it was fully crewed and with a not-insignificant security force. The galley droids had a high enough volume of work that the ship had always smelled faintly of something cooking, and there had always been just enough wear on the floors that Jaster could feel the presence of others even without reaching into the Force.</p><p>           But the <em>Ashla</em>, like the <em>Tantive</em>, slept just over three hundred at capacity, and there was quite a bit of empty space when that capacity was not met. Aboard the <em>Ashla</em>, now, were the entirety of the known surviving Jedi Order—Jaster, Ahsoka, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Master Yoda. Rex, of course, was still with them, and Padme, and her four most trusted handmaidens, who were now probably considered deserters to the Royal Naboo Security Forces. They had managed to bring six other loyalists to Padme along with them, guardsmen from the RNSF, and Bail had supplied them a skeleton crew of eleven Alderaanian soldiers to fly the <em>Ashla</em>. And finally, of course, there was Luke and there was Leia. That made thirty. Bail Organa, and Breha Organa, brought the entirety of the standing army against the Galactic Empire to a grand total of thirty-two.</p><p>           Jaster was quite certain that Darth Sidious would be unimpressed.</p><p>           The mood on <em>Ashla </em>was considerably better than it had been before they received their new ship, and Jaster credited most of that to a change of scenery, however imperceptible. Anakin and Padme were still not on good terms, and Obi-Wan had all but disappeared to help Anakin work through the not-insignificant fact that he’d just been manipulated by a Sith Lord for thirteen years, but Jaster and the others were thankful that Obi-Wan was dealing with that psychological mess, and they wouldn’t have to. In the Force, every so often they would feel Anakin’s signature pulse with a burst of emotion or the release of a tension point, and overall, the results appeared to be positive. Padme’s emotions were worn less openly, but in their brief interactions Jaster could see that she was coming around to the prospect of abandoning her work. Part of Jaster wanted to speak with her about it, mostly because that was a problem he also knew he would have struggled with, but his curiosity was outweighed by fear of a jealous Skywalker.</p><p>           Master Yoda was another matter entirely. Whereas the spirits of most beings on the ship were inching upward, little by little, Yoda had fallen into a deep depression they all could feel in the Force. Yoda tried to hide it, they could feel that too, but it was a halfhearted effort to draw a curtain in front of himself. Jaster and Ahsoka had agreed, privately, that Yoda was more than entitled to what he was feeling—they had each lost perhaps two decades of experience within the Jedi Order, old friends, trusted allies, younglings they’d known and cared for…Yoda had lost nearly nine-hundred years’ worth, and most, if not all, who had died in the Purge so far were ones Yoda knew by name. Jaster, and everyone else on the ship, had no intention to bother him.</p><p>The move onto the <em>Ashla</em>, though, had inspired a call to action for Jaster, and for Ahsoka and Rex, and Sabe joining them. They had all started their side of the new mission, and now spent their days fishing through the Holonet for relevant news. The Galaxy was in disarray, so evidence of uprising was not difficult to find, but it was more challenging to sift through Imperial propaganda and deduce the heart of matters on so many worlds.</p><p>           The four of them sat around the <em>Ashla</em>’s conference table, as they had done every rotation for three straight. Rex flipped through channels via the Holonet, filtering out worlds that were either tightly controlled or currently outside the Empire’s reach. Ahsoka and Sabe pored over datapads of their own, and Jaster did the same.</p><p>           “I’ve got an update on Kashyyyk,” Sabe said, after a long while. “Survivor reports among the Wookiees in the capitol city say that a Jedi helped lead the assault against them. No physical identifiers.”</p><p>           “Where are you getting that?” Ahsoka said.</p><p>           “One of the independent sources. I don’t believe they’ve been compromised yet, but I could be wrong.”</p><p>           “Probably Sly Moore,” Jaster said. “If she’s as powerful as it would seem, Kashyyyk makes sense as a coming-out party.”</p><p>           Sabe grimaced. “Right.” She scrolled through. “Yes, yes, that’s it. Bald woman. That’s all I have, but I think it’s enough for our purposes.”</p><p>           Jaster held up a hand. “I’ve got Kamino here. Apparently, the cloning facilities have been nationalized. ‘For the glory of the Empire’, it says.” He turned to Rex. “What do you think that means?”</p><p>           “I think the longnecks asked for a pay raise, and got their answer the hard way.”</p><p>           Ahsoka laughed harshly. “Good. Maybe it’ll put them in their place.”</p><p>           Rex shook his head. “I haven’t found a situation yet that the longnecks can’t make into an excuse for eugenics. They’ll find a way to make life hell for the <em>vod’e</em>.”</p><p>           Sabe leaned back in her chair. “A high proportion of former Confederacy-controlled worlds remain in status of full insurrection,” she said. “This is from another independent. Says that most of the worlds kept their own private reserves of droids from the war, and the citizens are rising up as well. Parallels a series of similar revolts in the Core, which are picking up steam among the more educated planets.”</p><p>           Rex muted the Holonet feed. “Which worlds?”</p><p>           “Mygeeto, Serenno, Raxus, Ukio.”</p><p>           “Serenno. We’re close to Serenno.”</p><p>           Jaster toggled the star maps. “You’re right, I hadn’t realized. Just a few parsecs away.”</p><p>           “House Dooku is trying to get a revolution started there against the Empire,” said Sabe. “Looks as if there’s momentum right now. They made Dooku into a martyr.”</p><p>           Ahsoka made a face. “I wonder if they have any idea of the things he’s done.”</p><p>           “I can guarantee you they don’t,” said Jaster. “No, according to them he spent his time vanquishing enemies of the free Galaxy, I’m sure.”</p><p>           Rex brought the star map in on Serenno’s star cluster. “You know,” he said, “I’ve been so cooped up in here. I’d like to get out and stretch my legs.”</p><p>           “There’s a protest planned for six Serenno hours from now.”</p><p>           “Which Legion is on Serenno right now?”</p><p>           “It’s the 909<sup>th</sup>.”</p><p>           “That’s Goldy’s men,” Rex said. “I’ll see if I can dig up some paint for my armor. Make it look like I’m one of theirs.”</p><p>           Ahsoka looked shocked. “Rex, your armor. You don’t have to.”</p><p>           “The 501<sup>st</sup> were my brothers. They might be again. But they certainly aren’t now.” Rex looked down at the table. “If the opportunity comes to change it back, I’ll take it. Till then, it’s what we’ve got to do.”</p><p>           Sabe nodded. “You’ll take the starfighter?” she said, waving her hand toward the ship’s underbelly, where the ARC-170 was still unceremoniously magnetized to it.</p><p>           “Yes,” said Ahsoka. “We’ll get it past Obi-Wan and be back within the day. No faces. I’ll watch the ship, since I’m not a confirmed survivor.”</p><p>           Rex was the first one on his feet. “Good,” he said. “We’ll leave within the hour.”</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Of all the worlds Jaster had hoped to visit after the war, Serenno had never made his list. But now, he had realized that perhaps that was a mistake. The planet had been gorgeous as they flew down through the atmosphere, and as Rex and Jaster made their way on a stolen speeder bike into the largest city governed by House Dooku. All forests and plains, it was the sort of planet Jaster would have loved to spend time on in a different life, and despite the coldness he felt from the citizens through the Force, the city itself seemed a rather comfortable place to spend time.</p><p>           Jaster stood outside a small shop, whose owner he had bribed to look the other way as Rex suited up. Now, the bell chimed as Rex opened the door a crack, and Jaster waved a hand to let him know the coast was clear. Rex’s armor was painted gold, and he held the rifle of a clone infantryman, while wearing none of the extra adornments that had come with his stature as a Commander.</p><p>           “How does it feel to be one of the boys again?” said Jaster.</p><p>           “Naked,” said Rex. “I got so used to the pauldron. It’s odd to not be wearing it.”</p><p>           “I could say the same for my lightsaber,” said Jaster. That wasn’t entirely true—it was strapped to the inside of his boot, which he had tweaked on the way—but the loss of it at his hip felt wrong.</p><p>           “I bet, kid,” said Rex. “Head to the front of the crowd, as best you can. I’ll try to get in position near you. You can tell who I am?”</p><p>           “Yeah,” said Jaster. “Through the Force. You know who I am?”</p><p>           “Yeah.”</p><p>           “Alright.” Jaster pulled up the hood of his cloak, and obscured himself within it. “Good luck.”</p><p>           Rex left down one end of the alleyway, and Jaster went to the other. He slipped seamlessly into the crowd that had formed in the streets, with display screens set up everywhere to give a good view of the proceedings on the steps of Palace Dooku. Jaster moved past people without stopping, and through the Force he extended a subtle interference to anyone who might look his way or consider his presence. Those who tried to acknowledge him mentally would find themselves to be absent-minded, or distracted. Jaster was confident that that side of things would not be an issue.</p><p>           As he moved, he picked up snippets of conversation and strung them together in his mind. The citizens were outraged about the assignment of a new Imperial Governor to Serenno—he heard the name <em>moff</em> several times, and hoped sincerely that the word wasn’t a title of some kind, for the sake of the Empire’s self-respect. The citizens felt that since House Dooku had been the ruling party on Serenno for decades, the Empire had no right to impose its lesser system over one that had proven perfectly capable of keeping the planet unified and aligned. Over and over again, Jaster heard that it wasn’t that Serennians were <em>against</em> the idea of the Empire, it was just that they had a love for the way things had been before. Jaster wasn’t sure that the Empire would care, but at least the point was clearly articulated.</p><p>           All around the crowd, clone troopers lined the outer streets. They stood two rows deep, seeming to encircle the whole place. Jaster knew what that meant; he had been on the clones’ side of it too many times to count. It was a killing field, not created because the clones had any intent to kill necessarily, but because if they did need to, it would be easier to do and minimize their own casualties. The clones felt different in the Force than usual, more frenetic, more fractured. Jaster wondered whether they had calmed down from the robotic zealotry he’d seen in his own men on Yerbana.</p><p>           He pushed his way to the front of the crowd, where an old woman was holding herself exceptionally haughtily behind a podium. Her silver hair was swept up into a precisely clean bun, and she wore a matching silver robe that fastened all the way down. This was Gelida Dooku, Jaster knew from old Republic intelligence, Count Dooku’s younger sister and the presumed heir to the Serennian dynasty. She, like her brother, hummed with power in the Force, although a quick probe at her nonexistent mental shields told Jaster that she was entirely untrained and likely mostly unaware of her own Force potential.</p><p>           “House Dooku has been a benevolent ruler to the people of Serenno for nearly a century!” she crowed. “My brother gave his life in protection of our people. We will not allow his sacrifice to go in vain!”</p><p>           “Dooku! Dooku!” chanted the crowd. Whistles and jeers harassed the clones around the city square.</p><p>           Jaster surveyed the top of the palace steps. Gelida Dooku was surrounded by a half-ring of her own soldiers, who faced outward toward the clone troopers, daring them to step closer.</p><p>           “We are not so low as to be kept in shackles!” Gelida Dooku shouted, pounding her fist on her podium. “We are not so undignified as to be stripped of our honor! Of our ways! Our traditions! And certainly not by the same Republic we fought so long to throw off ourselves, no matter what new skin they hide themselves in!”</p><p>           Jaster spotted Rex, where he had come to join the line of clone troopers. Rex leaned over to the soldier next to him, just like they’d planned, so that he could pretend that his commlink had malfunctioned and ask for the comm code to reconnect. He appeared to have success, and both he and the soldier next to him stood ready again.</p><p>           Gelida Dooku waved her hand around. “Even now! Even now, they look upon us as if they are our masters! They see the great sigils of Dooku and of the lesser houses, and what? They make mockeries of us!”</p><p>           The crowd took that statement to heart. Citizens were yelling profanities toward the clones now, and pushing against the barriers that kept them hemmed into the central square.</p><p>           Jaster tried to catch Rex’s eye, but Rex was watching other parts of the crowd.</p><p>           Somebody, a few meters away from Jaster, threw his boot at one of the clones. It bounced off the soldier’s helmet, and he—and the two troopers beside him—immediately changed in their stance. “Hold right there!” one of them yelled, and they came forward into the crowd. The man who had thrown the boot tried to fight back, but the troopers made to drag him out of the crowd.</p><p>           Jaster caught on too late to what Gelina Dooku was saying. “Protect your countrymen! Protect your brethren! If one citizen of Serenno falls, we all fall! Together!”</p><p>           The crowd broke in an instant. Serennians strained against the barriers and knocked them over, and around Gelina Dooku, private security and clone troopers were aiming blasters at each other and screaming their demands. The crowd rushed forward to all sides as the clone troopers tried to reset the barriers, and within moments there were kicks and punches thrown.</p><p>           Jaster found Rex in the clone lines, hanging toward the back but unable to go anywhere without risking notice of the soldiers in the back lines. The Force whistled behind Jaster and he ducked instinctively, as a pair of warning shots from a clone flew overhead.</p><p>           On the dais, the security forces were now trying to get Gelina Dooku to come down from her podium, but she pushed them away. “Resist!” she crowed. “Resist for your planet and your protectors! We are as one, and we will not be beaten by such petty creatures as these!”</p><p>           Jaster knelt down, and fished his comm out of a robe pocket. “Ahsoka,” he hissed into it. “Get ready.”</p><p>           Now, clone gunships buzzed low overhead, and further out, a pair of Y-wings began circling slowly in the distance. Citizens screamed and dropped to the ground, but when they stood up again, they were far more angry than they were afraid.</p><p>           Something shifted in the Force, and as if on cue, something shifted in the clones’ lines too. The front row of troopers gave one strong push on the barriers, and then were handed blasters by the row that backed them up. The Serennians didn’t realize until too late, when the blasters were aimed at them.</p><p>           Jaster tried to find Rex. He was in the front row, now. He’d been handed a blaster.</p><p>           The troopers opened fire, and all hell broke loose.</p><p>           Serennians in the crowd fired back, and on the dais, the standoff quickly turned into a shootout. Jaster felt her presence ripple in the Force as Gelina Dooku was hit, and then again, and then it began to wink out. Jaster was back far enough in the crowd that he could get down and not be hit, but he searched wildly and spotted Rex again. He was taking care not to shoot anybody fatally, but his blaster was firing and Jaster wasn’t sure if he had been able to miss his targets entirely.</p><p>           Jaster stayed low and ran forward through the brawl that had broken out, and he tackled Rex from the side. “Hit me,” he grunted, and hoped Rex heard. He did, and rolled Jaster off of him before mounting Jaster’s chest. Rex raised his fist and brought it down, and Jaster knew to shell up inside his arms and look as if he were being beaten in order to ensure the other clones didn’t take notice.</p><p>           The hits rained down on Jaster’s arms for a time, and in that minute his life and his awareness were entirely in Rex’s care. Then Rex dropped down close to his head. “Run away,” he muttered. “I’ll chase.”</p><p>           Jaster grabbed Rex’s armor and heaved him off, taking off running down a side alley. Around them, the surviving citizens and the clones had spilled pandemonium into the surrounding streets, and Jaster and Rex were not at all out of place in the middle of it. ARC-170s were flying in formation overhead, now, and gunships were landing and spilling more troops out into the square behind them. Jaster noticed that the presence of Gelina Dooku had winked out entirely.</p><p>           Jaster found his comm. “Ahsoka!” he said again. “We need a pickup! Meet us two klicks west of the city center.”</p><p>           Rex reached out and tackled him from behind, and Jaster was caught genuinely by surprise. He grunted as Rex heaved himself to a control position.</p><p>           “Sorry, kid. Two speeder bikes, at the end of the block, I’ll chase you. Now push me off.”</p><p>           Jaster managed to roll, and in payback for the tackle, he felt it was only fair to wedge his legs under Rex’s chest and flip the clone up over his head. He got to his feet and spotted the speeder bikes, reaching out telepathically to a citizen who’d had the same idea and planting a suggestion in his brain to run away from the city instead.</p><p>           Jaster got to one bike and jumped onto it, and by the time Rex would have gotten to the other one, Jaster was already gone with a head start.</p><p>           Slowly the mob began to thin, and then disappeared entirely as they got out of the city center. Jaster set a course to the rendezvous they’d established, in a little recreational park in the outskirts. Ahsoka was landing just as they arrived.</p><p>           Jaster heaved himself up into the rear seat, and waited for Rex to get the co-pilot’s. Nobody seemed to see them, either from what Jaster saw visually or through what he noticed in the Force. Within twenty seconds of catching sight of each other, they were passing into the upper atmosphere, engines straining to get them offworld as quickly as possible.</p><p>           “What happened down there?” Ahsoka said, her chest heaving too.</p><p>           “Massacre,” Jaster said. His throat felt dry. “They shot them all. Rex…did you?”</p><p>           “No, no, kid. Missed every shot. I got lucky that they weren’t watching me closely.”</p><p>           “Alright. That’s good, that’s good.”</p><p>           “Did they kill everyone?” said Ahsoka. “You escaped.”</p><p>           “No, it’s a riot now,” said Rex. “They’ll get everybody. Heard over the internals, they’re planning to do summary executions of prisoners.”</p><p>           They all sat with that knowledge for a moment.</p><p>           “There was nothing you could have done,” said Ahsoka. She had picked up on Jaster’s shame almost before he had, then.</p><p>           “I know,” he said. He became aware again of his lightsaber in his boot, and he realized that in the heat of the riot, he’d forgotten about it entirely. He shook his head, confused, but he knew that it was simply the circumstance he didn’t want to consider. He had been a citizen, back in the square, not a Jedi. He’d been unable to stop it. That would take getting used to.</p><p>          </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Obi-Wan rubbed his chin, and revealed to them very little about his reaction to their story. Sabe, beside him, was downcast.</p><p>           “They’re really massacring civilians in peaceful protest,” she said. “They’re doing it. Just like that.”</p><p>           “They are,” said Rex. “In cold blood, premeditated.”</p><p>           “Did you learn anything while you were there that may be of value to us?” said Obi-Wan.</p><p>           “The people were furious,” said Jaster. “That’s got to count for something. Gelina Dooku was leading the protest, Yan Dooku’s younger sister, but they killed her, and I’m sure that’s going to send a clear message to many of the other former CIS systems.”</p><p>           Ahsoka hummed to herself. “Without revolt,” she said slowly, “And without the outlet that organized revolt provides…do you think the rebellions will begin to fade?”</p><p>           “Well, they’ll have to,” said Rex. “No protections in place.”</p><p>           “But they might not want to.” Ahsoka turned to Obi-Wan. “Without a forum to voice their frustrations and resist the Empire, the people may decide to wait for an opportunity. But that doesn’t mean they’ll forget. People can think their rulers are corrupt and sit on that feeling for years without saying a word, but they’ll still feel it.”</p><p>           “We need more intelligence,” said Rex. “Real intelligence. Not something we get on the Holonet. We can attend all the massacres we like, but until we know about them beforehand—until we can predict their outcomes—we won’t be able to use them to our advantage.”</p><p>           “I agree,” said Obi-Wan. “It’s likely that many of our Republic codes will still be useful, although not for very long. If we’re going to begin finding sources of information, now is the time.”</p><p>           “How long till we drop out of Hyperspace?” said Jaster.</p><p>           “Not long now. A few minutes, perhaps.”</p><p>           “And where will we be?”</p><p>           “The Outer Rim, in an uncharted system, as usual. Very few significant planets in the area, except the Skako system.”</p><p>           “Skako,” Rex said softly. “We can work with Skako.”</p><p>           “What do you have in mind?”</p><p>           “After we recovered Echo from the Techno Union, we established a number of listening posts in the area, to see if we could pick up on any sensitive information flowing in and out about other special projects. As far as I know, it never turned up anything of value, but those listening posts will still be there.”</p><p>           “That could be huge,” said Ahsoka. “The posts all received Republic intelligence as well, so they could coordinate quickly. They’ll be lightly manned.”</p><p>           “It will be dangerous to visit one,” said Obi-Wan. “Would we need to take it over?”</p><p>           “No,” said Rex. “A mobile transceiver will only pick up and decrypt some information, but it’ll be enough. And they won’t know who has it or where it is, either, they were built to be untraceable. If we can recover that, it could start giving us leads worth following.”</p><p>           “Very well,” said Obi-Wan. “Create your plan, and we will discuss it further once you are ready. I am hesitant to approve these sort of actions, especially to steal material we will keep on board…but, Rex, if you truly believe it to be untraceable, then the risk may well be worth the reward.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Sixteen days after Knightfall.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for the read! More to come.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Heist</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Eighteen Days after Knightfall</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Jaster knelt at the edge of the ridge as their group formed up. All the others got down and gathered around him, as he passed field binoculars out from his pack, and they belly-crawled their way to the lip of the crater where the Imperial listening post was installed.</p><p>Thirteen of them had come, in total. The Royal Naboo Guard deserters and the Handmaidens were under Rex’s command for this mission, and all of them were wrapped in the best approximation of desert-pirate garb they had been able to scrape together. It wasn’t a bad job, all things considered, and it had been made better by a stop at a remote trading post that the Empire hadn’t yet reached. They all carried new blasters, in that the blasters were new to the group, but they were unpolished and of crude make. They were ideal, in order to blend in.</p><p>Jaster and Ahsoka had come, too, and they were the ones who had had the most fun at the trading post. With substantial guidance from Motee, they had styled themselves into bland, but convincing bounty-hunter gear, complete with visored helmets to obscure their faces. Jaster’s was all tans and browns, with a heavy blaster pistol at his hip and a compartment sewn into his jacket to hide his lightsaber. Ahsoka had tucked her remaining little saber into her boot, just in case, and had a new hunting blaster of her own slung over her back. She had explained to Jaster that she’d chosen it because it was long enough to use as a quarterstaff, in a pinch.</p><p>Rex signaled for everybody’s attention, and he silently marked individual targets with his fingers. The others nodded and confirmed back to him. Then, Rex jerked his head back, and everyone retreated from the ridge.</p><p>“Alright,” he said. He kept his voice low as everyone huddled together. “Let’s go over it one more time. We can’t have slip-ups on this one. On my mark, the main group is going to engage the listening post at the front. I count four troopers outside; total occupancy is likely to be around twenty. There’s ample cover from blasterfire, but keep an eye for explosives and do not attempt to breach the building. Our objective is a firefight.”</p><p>Sabe nodded to him, and then she looked to Jaster and Ahsoka. “Are you clear on your objective?”</p><p>“Yes,” said Jaster. “We’ll let you know when we’ve secured the transceiver.”</p><p>“We’re looking for minimal casualties,” Ahsoka said. “Do what you have to, but not more than you have to. We want these troopers to be able to confirm to their superiors that it was pirates who raided them, nothing more.”</p><p>Rex started moving away. “Everyone, form up, on me.” He paused, and took a searching look behind Ahsoka’s and Jaster’s visors. “Be safe.”</p><p>Ahsoka led the way around the crater, to the rear of the listening post. This side was much more lightly defended, with just a single trooper out on the rear deck moving boxes and crates.</p><p>Jaster felt unease coming from Ahsoka. “What is it?”</p><p>“When Order 66 was given out,” she said. “I didn’t kill the clones on my ship.”</p><p>“They all died in the crash, anyway.”</p><p>“But it wasn’t me who killed them,” said Ahsoka. She was looking at the lone soldier, oblivious to them.</p><p>“Set it to stun. If you hit him twice in a row, it should be enough to keep him unconscious till nightfall at least.”</p><p>Ahsoka nodded, and flipped the indicator on her long gun. She tracked the trooper, and without warning, she took both of her shots without issue.</p><p>They slid down the side of the crater and took shelter behind whatever they could, slowly creeping up toward the rear door. Finally they were close enough to sprint for it, and so far as they could tell, they were not seen.</p><p>From across the crater came sounds of violence: blasterfire, and screaming from the clones. A raid siren sounded, and the place came to life.</p><p>Ahsoka and Jaster ducked out of sight of the door until, predictably, two more soldiers came running out to check on the back exit. Jaster shot at them both from behind cover, and he did so precisely. By the time they had been dealt with, Ahsoka was holding the door open, with its motors whirring as if they didn’t know they were being impeded by the Force.</p><p>Ahsoka closed the door after them. The lights inside had come to an emergency red, and the hallways they could see were empty. “This way,” she said, and she led the way straight. Now, both of them held their blasters ready.</p><p>The scales on Jaster’s arms crawled with a warning, and he reached out for Ahsoka, pressing them both back against a wall. Down at the end of the corridor, several more clones ran by. They didn’t notice the intruders.</p><p>Ahsoka found the door they wanted, and she worked her way through the access-bypass codes Rex had given her. Jaster stood ready for the door to open, blaster aimed outward.</p><p>The door hissed and rose upward, and Jaster was faced with darkness.</p><p>He walked inside slowly, Ahsoka behind him. Whatever room they were in, it was silent, except the creaking of panels underfoot.</p><p>The lights came on all at once. Jaster was disoriented for the briefest of moments, and before he could react, he had been tackled to the ground.</p><p>He blinked and shook his head clear, realizing that an Imperial intelligence officer had brought him down. The man wasn’t a clone, but he was a Human, too young for the silver hair tucked under his cap. He snarled at Jaster, reaching for his throat.</p><p>Jaster tucked his legs under the man and flipped him overhead, before swinging himself back to his feet. Another officer waited for him, and across the room, he saw Ahsoka dealing with much the same problem.</p><p>Jaster didn’t bother looking for his weapon, as it had already slid halfway across the room. Thankfully, the intelligence officers hadn’t had time to arm themselves, and so Jaster engaged with the one in front of him with hands and feet. The other one, who Jaster had thrown, came back to join them, but even with his assistance, it wasn’t long before Jaster had landed a jumping knee into the first one’s forehead, and bloodied the other with elbows before—almost gently—easing him to sleep through a combination of asphyxiation and the Force.</p><p>“You alright?” he called to Ahsoka, as she grappled with one of her assailants.</p><p>“Find it!” she snapped.</p><p>“Fine,” Jaster said to himself. He searched through drawers and cabinets, not bothering to note the other discarded sensitive materials around the room, until finally, clumsily hidden beneath a holotable, he dug out the transceiver they were after.</p><p>By then, Ahsoka was finished with her fight as well. She had her rifle cocked, and shifted her aim between any of the intelligence officers that stirred.</p><p>“This might sound unlike me,” she hissed to Jaster. “But I don’t think I like playing nice.”</p><p>Jaster nodded grimly. He, too, was sorely missing the times in which he could have drawn his lightsaber, or at least casually swept his opponents aside with the Force. Passing as a bounty hunter was already proving to be an inconvenience.</p><p>He finished hiding the transceiver away, safely stowed in his pack. “Are we done here?” he said.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Jaster cleared his throat, and nodded to his left, where one of the intelligence officers was slowly getting to his feet. Ahsoka sighed, flipped her blaster back to stun, and blew the officer clean off his feet with three fast shots.</p><p>Jaster chuckled. “You aren’t playing today.”</p><p>“They won’t be so eager to chase us when they still have to wake him up.”</p><p>They left the command room, and retraced their path out. Luckily, nobody came to stop them, and on the rear deck, the soldiers they’d encountered were still unconscious.</p><p>From her own pack, Ahsoka brought out the flare they’d purchased at the trading post. She fired it high over the station, where she knew Rex and the others would be able to see it. Then they turned away, found their way up the lip of the crater again, and hiked their way to the rendezvous.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>By now, Jaster thought to himself, he really shouldn’t be surprised at finding himself in a fight with Anakin.</p><p>“I don’t know what you were thinking!” he yelled, not so much at any of them individually as the entire group. “You didn’t just leave one or two witnesses, you left half the listening post alive and unharmed! If just one of them, any of them, recognized even one of you-“</p><p>“Who was going to recognize us?” Sabe said. “Four-hundred-quadrillion intelligent beings in the Galaxy, and we’re going to see friends there?”</p><p>“Stranger things have happened,” Anakin snapped. “And you two,” he said, turning to Jaster and Ahsoka. “You only took the transceiver. You couldn’t have stolen some other intelligence? Messed around a little? Made it look like you didn’t know what you’d done? No, instead we can deal with Imperial Intelligence breathing down our necks, because the one thing missing is the most important thing at the base!”</p><p>“I’m telling you,” Rex said to him. His face was tight, his tone clipped. “It won’t be an issue, because the transceivers are untraceable.”</p><p>“Nothing is untraceable, Rex!”</p><p>“They are for CCs with the codes, and I’ve already input mine. They worked, and the worst thing the Empire can do now is shut off the transceiver remotely. They can’t track its location.”</p><p>“But they’ll know it’s you!”</p><p>“I used Appo’s!” Rex shouted. His voice was strangled. “I didn’t use mine, of course I didn’t. And Appo is loose enough with his information anyway that it’ll be believable.”</p><p>Anakin glared at Jaster. “I can’t believe you helped lead this thing. You’re supposed to be the strategist!”</p><p>“I led it,” Ahsoka snapped.</p><p>“Don’t try and cover for him!”</p><p>From an adjoining corridor, Padme stormed in. For a moment Jaster was relieved, for he’d come to learn already that Padme in that state generally meant that Anakin was about to be reminded that he, too, was fallible sometimes. But then Padme spoke, and Jaster realized that they would have no such luck.</p><p>“I just learned about all this,” she said curtly. “Obi-Wan only saw fit to tell me now that you’re back.” She fixed Sabe with a glare. “Does anybody have an idea of why that might be?”</p><p>“The plan was developed quickly,” Sabe said. “You had the children to care for. It wasn’t worth-“</p><p>“I am just as much a part of this as you all are.” Padme was getting red in the face, now. “And if I had been told properly, then I would have said to all of you that this was foolish. We shouldn’t have risked the lived, we shouldn’t have exposed ourselves so early, and we certainly shouldn’t have rented that freighter to transport you all back and forth. If there are <em>any</em> records associating that freighter to the <em>Ashla</em>, it could be the end for us.”</p><p>“There aren’t!” Rex was growing impatient now, too. “It was an old contact of mine who owes me favors. There will be no record.”</p><p>“And you’re willing to bet my children’s lives on it.”</p><p>“He bet his children’s lives on me once!” Rex snapped. “Yes, I am.”</p><p>Anakin scowled at the group. “No survivors next time. No one gets to tell about us.”</p><p>“It was essential to the mission that there were survivors to talk about us,” Jaster tried to explain. “They thought we were pirates, they still think that. If they were all killed, it would’ve been Imperial intelligence running their own investigation, with reason to form their own theories. Let the survivors do the thinking for them.”</p><p>“And you didn’t draw your lightsabers. You didn’t use the Force. Not even once.”</p><p>“No, we didn’t,” Ahsoka said, a rare venom in her voice. “And if you’d been in our situation, you would have, so be thankful that we took care of this one for you.”</p><p>Anakin clearly didn’t know what to say to that, and certainly not from Ahsoka. He just gaped at her, opening and closing his mouth while Padme tried visibly to cool herself down beside him.</p><p>“If you’re all quite finished,” said Obi-Wan. They all turned, and realized that nobody had noticed him leaning against the wall, just watching. “I approved the mission, and its failures lie with me. If there were successes, those are claimed by all of you.” He heaved himself off the wall. “Were you successful?”</p><p>Ahsoka handed him the transmitter.</p><p>Obi-Wan took it in both hands, and then suspended it in midair and rotated it slowly to look it over. “How does it work?”</p><p>“I can show you.” Rex reached out and took it, and with their grievances apparently forgotten, the group followed him to the conference room.</p><p>Anakin and Jaster, inexplicably, fell into step together on the way. “I’m sorry,” Jaster said softly. “We should have made sure you were aware of the full plan.”</p><p>“The plan was fine,” Anakin muttered. “I just wish I didn’t have to learn the details the hard way.”</p><p>“I know.”</p><p>Obi-Wan was the last one into the conference room. “Master Yoda won’t be joining us,” he said. “Apparently, Luke has caused quite the mess.”</p><p>“I should go,” said Padme.</p><p>“No, no, he made it quite plain that he and the nursery droid could handle it.” Obi-Wan smiled at her reassuringly. “Commander Rex?”</p><p>Rex had finished wiring the transceiver into the conference table’s holoprojector. He toggled its display. “The transceiver is, at its core, a decryption device,” he said. “Due to the scale of the war effort, it was inconvenient for the GAR to spend manpower establishing a Galactic spiderweb of secure information transmission, so instead, the Republic invested in devices like these. The encryption we used, and the Empire uses now, is terribly complex. This device has all the tools necessary to decrypt, and that task still challenges its processing power. But the signals themselves are everywhere, broadcast freely through the Galaxy for anyone to find. Pick up on the signals without a transceiver, and it’s meaningless.”</p><p>Motee leaned forward. “If the machine is accessing those signals, is there not a record generated on when that information is accessed?”</p><p>“No. It’s as if you’re reaching up into the air itself and catching a fly. The fly’s got no way to alert any of the other flies that you’ve grabbed it, unless they happen to see you do it.”</p><p>Motee nodded, apparently satisfied.</p><p>“Now, we refine our search to whatever sector or sub-sector’s intelligence stream we’re interested, and….”</p><p>Voices sprung out from the device, and Rex filtered through them all with ease. He flipped away from those discussing more niche or compartmented issues, and instead gave the group a chunk of uninterrupted briefing audio whenever something relevant arose. Jaster listened intently, as did they all.</p><p>“Be advised that the Coruscant Guard is now dispatching six additional battalions to the Galactic Governmental sector in response to the ongoing riots, with priority response focused on the topmost one-hundred-and-fifty levels. Deprivation measures relating to power and water supply may be considered for lower levels, and all squads should be advised-“</p><p>“As of three hours-standard, the Onderonian capitol city of Iziz should be considered a hostile zone. All individuals still present in the zone must be considered active rebel combatants. By order of the Emperor, use of overwhelming force in cases of open rebellion exists at the discretion of commanding officers within each battle-space, and is permissible to ensure the continued security of the Empire.”</p><p>“All parties of Cato Neimoidia’s Viceregency collective have now made a written and verbal commitment to the peaceful transition of power for the Viceregency’s controlled systems, pending approval by the office of Emperor Palpatine. Any remaining Confederacy weapons systems will be dismantled, and all individuals who aid in the location of such weapons systems will be granted full clemency for any wartime actions and placed on a registry of known former dissidents.”</p><p>“Corellian shipyards have been federalized under the direct command of the Galactic Empire, with overwhelming support of the planetary population. At this time, expressions of military force on allied worlds in the Corellian sector are expressly forbidden as a show of good faith to the sector. Any dissident activity, speech, or expression of intent must be thoroughly documented for later follow-up.”</p><p>“The die-offs within the Geonosian hives are currently not explainable by any system of reason developed by Imperial scientists. Autopsies on deceased Geonosian workers and drones show no sign of physical malaise, and at this time the hives should be considered safe for incursion by clone troopers. Those Geonosians that are not deceased have become increasingly docile and submissive, and hive networks should be fully documented while this window of opportunity exists.”</p><p>“All soldiers on Nar Shaadaa, please be advised that Jedi Padawan Wotan Su’ani-“</p><p>Around the conference table, everybody came to attention at once. Anakin reached out his hand toward Rex. “Keep it here!” he shouted.</p><p>“Quiet!” said Ahsoka. “Listen!”</p><p>“-believed to have fled into the lower levels of the city at this time, and may be seeking shelter with known or unknown countercultural or militant groups within the undercity. The Jedi is known to be armed and extremely dangerous, and all troopers entering the lower city are advised to travel in full squads. Troopers are directed to contact superior officers if contact with the Jedi is believed to be a possibility, and await further orders before engaging. All Jedi fugitives are to be executed in accordance with Order 66. Moving to the string of recent bombings in the nearby energy district….”</p><p>Rex lowered the volume of the broadcast until it was just above a whisper. Around the table, everybody shared looks, but none were eager to be the first to speak.</p><p>Finally, Jaster cleared his throat. “We’ve got to go,” he said. “We’ve got to.”</p><p>“Agreed,” said Anakin. “We can be there within the day.”</p><p>“Not you,” said Sabe. “There’s too much risk in you going.”</p><p>“But-“</p><p>“She’s right, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said softly. “Ahsoka, Jaster, Rex, I hate to ask you to turn around so quickly.”</p><p>“We’ll leave as soon as we can,” Jaster nodded.</p><p>“Are you sure you can get this done?” said Anakin. “This will be different. They’ll be waiting for you.”</p><p>“We know,” said Ahsoka. “We won’t try to keep everybody alive this time.”</p><p>Obi-Wan nodded. “You will need to keep a low profile. Do not draw lightsabers unless it is absolutely necessary. Take the starfighter, and ensure that you have a route out of the city before you venture too far in.”</p><p>“All due respect,” Rex said. “But we may not have time for all that. The troops are clearly getting good at hunting Jedi, and they’ll find this one sooner or later.”</p><p>“If it comes to saving this Padawan, or preserving your own safety, preserve yourselves,” Padme said. “Minimal loss. Remember that.”</p><p>Ahsoka nodded, and she stood up. “We should get ready. This won’t be easy to do, and we’ll need all the preparation we can get.”</p><p>Jaster and Rex got to their feet, too, and together they followed her out.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Eighteen Days after Knightfall</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Rescue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Eighteen Days after Knightfall</em>
</p><p> </p><p>           Jaster had heard stories from the Jedi who had visited Nar Shaddaa that the planet felt dark, in the Force. Now, having set foot on it, it just seemed as if it were a different sort of dark than the rest of the Galaxy—dust and dimness, rather than hot oil. The planet thrummed with life, like any other world so densely populated, but here the undercurrent of despair was more fundamental than most.</p><p>           Rex had found some bounty-hunting gear of his own, and he, Ahsoka, and Jaster blended into the streets seamlessly. He had picked up a pair of thin, gleaming blaster pistols, and to his credit, they suited him well. Ahsoka had added to her gear as well, for Anakin’s lightsaber, which he had lent to her for the mission.</p><p>           The clone presence on Nar Shaddaa—the stormtrooper presence, as Jaster was trying to get used to calling them, with their newly whitewashed armor—was substantial, but it was far more concentrated within the troops’ own bases than they had expected. As such, they felt a bit more at ease to travel and speak without fear, although they each took precautions to keep to the edge of every crowd.</p><p>           They had split up, at first—Ahsoka made contact with a trusted associate, Rex scouted out the clones and tried to identify their operational patterns, and Jaster gleaned what information he could from some new friends at the Bounty Hunters’ Guild, where he had signed himself in as a new hunter-apprentice by the name of Bar’lok Tudd. When they reunited, Ahsoka had come with the name of the sub-district Padawan Su’ani was believed to have hidden inside of, and Jaster knew quite a bit about the work the clones and bounty hunters had done already to capture him. Apparently, the young Jedi had managed to slip past half a platoon of troopers, and had made short work out of a few overexcited hunters who had let their guards down.</p><p>           Better yet, Rex knew that the clones were sweeping that area every twenty minutes standard, and that there would be sufficient gaps in their coverage for them to sneak through.</p><p>           Now, Ahsoka gave subtle hand signals to initiate the final part of their preparation. Across the city district, clone troopers roved about in packs of four in an attempt to project their authority and keep the peace, and behind one of those packs, Rex and Jaster followed on opposite sides of a crowded street. The path parted for the clones, although they received plenty of dirty looks and muttered curses from the citizenry.</p><p>           Ahsoka ducked into an alleyway and went out of sight. Jaster knew that before long she’d have jumped up and begun following them on the adjoining rooftops.</p><p>           When the shots came, Jaster and Rex were ready. Ahsoka had aimed for the clones’ feet, and she injured one, striking him in the leg with her second blaster bolt after the first one went wide. Pedestrians screamed and ran, and the clones reacted immediately. One of them stayed with their fallen brother, and the other two found Ahsoka’s silhouette and returned fire. Ahsoka kept to the plan, and disappeared out of sight.</p><p>           The clones chased after her in the back alleys below, and Rex and Jaster were close behind. They kept the clones just within eyesight until their path had twisted sufficiently away from anyone’s notice. Ahsoka was giving them just enough trace of her that they could keep following, and she led them to the location her associate had told her about.</p><p>           When the clones reached the dead end in the alleyway, Rex and Jaster were upon them before they could turn around. They tackled the clones and ripped their helmets off, and then choked them unconscious with the aid of a substantial sleep suggestion from Jaster.</p><p>           Ahsoka came down to ground-level, and keyed in the passcode she’d obtained for a little side door. “In here,” she whispered. They dragged the clones inside and shut the door behind them, and Ahsoka used the lightsabers until she could find the dim light for the room.</p><p>           Rex looked over the troopers quickly. “This one’s a corporal,” he said, pointing to the one Jaster had tackled. “What’s our plan for the other one?”</p><p>           “I can keep him unconscious,” said Jaster. He strengthened his connection to the other clone’s mind and pushed him deeper into his sleep, so that he would be unshakeable for at least an hour or two.</p><p>           “Alright.” Ahsoka dragged the corporal until he was seated upright against a wall. She knelt down in front of him, and held a hand to his forehead. Beneath her helmet, she took a long breath. When she exhaled, the clone exhaled with her, and his eyes fluttered open.</p><p>           At once he made to move and to fight, but Rex was there behind him, holding his shoulders steady. “Relax, trooper,” he said, and the clone heard him clearly.</p><p>           He struggled to turn to see Rex, cloaked in his gear. “Why you hiding your face?” said the clone. “Traitor.” He spat at Rex. Rex didn’t flinch.</p><p>           “Look at me,” said Ahsoka. The clone’s head turned back in her direction. “What’s your name, corporal?”</p><p>           “Kark off.”</p><p>           “We only have a few questions.”</p><p>           Jaster followed the clone’s eyes, to his comrade on the ground. Jaster knelt between the awake trooper and the asleep one. “He’s fine,” Jaster said. “We checked.”</p><p>           “You’re kidnapping stormtroopers of the Imperial Army.”</p><p>           “We’re aware.” Jaster gave the man a minute to stop struggling. “Where is the Jedi?”</p><p>           The man laughed. “That’s what this is about? You here to help him, then, to save him?”</p><p>           “Hardly,” said Ahsoka. “Empire’s paying a good price for his head, and didn’t specify how they get it.”</p><p>           “Well, you won’t get it from me. That’s an Imperial target.”</p><p>           Jaster and Ahsoka shared a look. As the trooper watched them, he missed Rex sliding into position behind him until it was too late and both of his arms were controlled.</p><p>           It was difficult for Jaster and Ahsoka to extend their mental influence over a being without some physical motion on their part, particularly with their hands. Although not necessary to apply Force techniques, they had both been taught since infancy to accompany their mental movements with physical ones, to enhance the precision of their techniques. They were far less accustomed to just pushing outward with their minds alone.</p><p>           They made do, however, and together they wrapped their influence around the clone’s mind. Although the soldier was suspicious, and he strained against Rex, their hope had been that by not moving in typically Jedi ways they might have a chance to avoid revealing themselves. If the soldier understood what was happening, as they wormed their way through fragile mental shields, he didn’t let on.</p><p>           Together, Jaster and Ahsoka pulled memories out from the man, sorting through the irrelevant ones. They filtered through sounds of the Padawan’s lightsaber and deduced that this clone had confronted him personally; they gathered only select images of the Jedi, from the back, hooded and cloaked. But if they could access these things, then they were inside the man’s mind deeply enough to do what really mattered.</p><p>           They spoke together. “Where is the Jedi?”</p><p>           The clone had caught on, now, if only partially, and he strained hard against Rex. “Get out of my head.” His breathing became more ragged, his eyes wild, as they pressed their influence onto him. “Get out of my head!”</p><p>           “Where is the Jedi?”</p><p>           The trooper closed his eyes, and for the briefest moment, they felt him strain and shake in the Force as he tried to push them away. Then his façade cracked, and he was theirs, for a time.</p><p>           The trooper caught his breath. “The Jedi is within the neutral territory in sub-district Votesh, level seven-below.”</p><p>           “Neutral territory?”</p><p>           “Warring gangs,” the trooper said. His voice was flatter now, more even. “We’ll go in after him once we’ve got the manpower.”</p><p>           “How long?”</p><p>           “I don’t know. However long it takes.”</p><p>           Jaster and Ahsoka released their hold. Rex looked up at them, as the trooper slumped forward. “Won’t he know-“</p><p>           “He won’t remember,” Jaster said. His voice was clipped. “It used to be frowned upon, outlawed even, but…it’s different times. We can scrub his memory.”</p><p>           “Scrub him, put him to sleep,” Ahsoka said. “We’ll put them back out there and get on with it.”</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Nar Shaddaa was not nearly as densely populated as Coruscant, and there were not nearly so many layers of city stacked atop one another. But it was still a city-planet, and in this particular area, its layers went thirty down before a person could see sunlight. Luckily for them, their Padawan had only gone a few layers into the underbelly, and although they moved carefully through, they did not need to feel nearly so much pressure of danger as they might have at the bottom levels.</p><p>           The clone presence on Level Seven-Below-Surface was minimal, and civilians were far less common here. Jaster didn’t know what the story was regarding the warring gangs, but whatever it was, it had the locals scared enough to either stay inside, or keep their heads down. The three of them still kept their weapons holstered as they walked, but Rex in particular let his fingers fall just above his pistols.</p><p>           He was right to do so. As they rounded a corner, the Force screamed danger and Jaster pushed Rex across the alley, as Ahsoka ducked out of the way. A blaster bolt skimmed off Jaster’s back-plate, and another one blew a chunk of duracrete out of the wall beside his head. They drew their blasters and found cover.</p><p>           “Clones?” said Ahsoka.</p><p>           “Single shooter!” Rex said. “Rooftop, medium-powered rifle.”</p><p>           “Then let’s go get them,” said Jaster. Before the others could argue, he leapt up to an adjoining rooftop, doing his best to disguise the Force-assisted jump as one a number of species would be able to pull off without augmentation. Not for the first time that day, he enjoyed having all of his body obscured behind his bounty hunter garb.</p><p>           He spotted the sniper immediately. Rex had been correct in his assessment—it was a lone gunman, with a rifle better suited to long-range shooting than any close-quarters engagement. Jaster snarled and gave chase, immediately surprised at how skillfully the shooter moved between the rooftops.</p><p>           Behind him, he was sure, Ahsoka would be on the rooftops as well, with Rex keeping up while down on ground-level.</p><p>           Jaster gained on the shooter, using bursts of Force speed when he knew nobody’s eyes would be on him. He came closer and closer, until finally, he was able to leap out and tackle them.</p><p>           The shooter turned and they scuffled for a moment, each straining against the other for position and leverage to find some level of control. Jaster could tell that this was a bounty hunter, too, and he ripped their helmet off. She was a Zabrak, heavily tattooed and well-muscled, and she was not happy.</p><p>           Ahsoka had caught up, and pulled her off of Jaster. The Zabrak looked for her gun, but it was under Rex’s foot by then. Faced with Ahsoka’s blaster as well as Jaster’s ready fists, the Zabrak raised her hands in surrender. “I’m sorry,” she snapped. “Didn’t want you to spoil the bounty.”</p><p>           “Some way of telling us that,” said Jaster.</p><p>           “How am I supposed to stop three of you from getting the Jedi before I did? There’s three of you!”</p><p>           “Yeah, well, none of us ever claimed this job would be fair,” Ahsoka said. “Get on your knees.”</p><p>           The Zabrak obliged. “If you’re going to do it, just do it. Try and make it clean, if you can.”</p><p>           Jaster felt the turmoil within Ahsoka, at just the mere thought of that assumption being levied against her. “No,” Ahsoka said immediately. “You’ll be allowed to leave. Maybe without the gun.”</p><p>           The Zabrak frowned. “Well, then beat me up quick and get going. No reason you should lose out on the bounty just because I am.”</p><p>           Rex barked out a laugh. “Some kind of words, that is. You just tried to kill us.”</p><p>           “Well, I’d rather you get the money than the Imperials.” The Zabrak cocked her head at Rex. “But you’d know that, clone, wouldn’t you?”</p><p>           “Tell me this,” said Ahsoka. “How close were you to the Jedi?”</p><p>           “Hey, come on,” she said. “I don’t join teams. Haven’t in a long time.”</p><p>           “Who said we’re inviting you? We want what you know.”</p><p>           “No way. I got that information the hard way, you can too. I might be rooting for you to get the kid before the Empire does, but I’m not about to hand him to you.”</p><p>           “Loyalty to nothing and nobody but coin, right?”</p><p>           “That’s right,” said the Zabrak, and her eyes shone fierce. “So what’ll it be?”</p><p>           Ahsoka shared a look with the others. “Well, we don’t<em> have</em> coin right now, do we? That’s why we need the bounty.”</p><p>           “You and everyone else on this rock.”</p><p>           “Fine,” Jaster said. He stepped toward her. “Let’s simplify this. You know where the kid is, we’ve got the manpower to bring him down. We split it even.”</p><p>           “A quarter of that bounty barely refuels my ship.”</p><p>           “Half.” Jaster waited for her eyes to widen, and betrayed nothing when they did. “We split it down the middle. The three of us take half, and you as an independent hunter take the other half. But we shake on it now or we don’t shake at all, we need to move.”</p><p>           The Zabrak frowned, and thought for a moment. Then she reached her hand out toward Ahsoka. “Fine.”</p><p>           They clasped hands, and Rex returned the Zabrak’s weapon to her.</p><p>           “You must really be broke,” she said, and she got her helmet back on. “This way. Kid’s somewhere in the warehouses underneath the freighter docks.”</p><p>           With their new guide, the group made a quick pace toward the warehouses in question. As they grew closer, Jaster could start picking up on the faintest traces of Wotan Su’ani’s Force signature. It felt dark, fearful…distinctly not like a Jedi. Jaster supposed he could understand why, given the circumstances.</p><p>           By the time they reached the warehouses, the signature was strong enough that Jaster and presumably Ahsoka could actually deduce the path Padawan Su’ani had travelled. But they combed through one or two other buildings first, so as to not bring up suspicion. Jaster extended his awareness throughout the surrounding area, and he could tell that there were no masses of beings significant enough to replicate a coming clone squad.</p><p>           “Over here,” Jaster said finally. He pointed at the warehouse that most strongly resonated with Padawan Su’ani’s signature. “I think I saw something.”</p><p>           They entered together, quietly. Rex and the Zabrak swept out to each side, while Jaster and Ahsoka kept straight down the center.</p><p>           “Do you feel that?” Jaster murmured.</p><p>           “He’s close to breaking,” Ahsoka confirmed. “He could be already gone.”</p><p>           Jaster heard the faintest echo of a sound, coming from an alcove on the other side of the warehouse. They approached it now, with Rex and the Zabrak close behind.</p><p>           Their instincts were rewarded. When they came nearly close enough to kill, the Padawan leapt out from behind the alcove wall with his saber already ignited. He threw it out in a wide arc to ward them off, and when the Zabrak fired off a shot, he deflected. The blaster bolt whizzed past Jaster’s head.</p><p>           Before either the Padawan or the Zabrak could figure out what was happening, Rex had raised one of his pistols to the back of the Zabrak’s head. “Drop your weapon,” he hissed. The Zabrak snarled, but she complied. Padawan Su’ani held his blade up high, next to his head, and he looked back and forth between them all, confused.</p><p>           He felt broken, in the Force. Jaster saw it in the dark circles around his eyes, and the ghost-pale pallor of his face. His knuckles were white on his lightsaber hilt, and his breathing was ragged. He might not have slept in days.</p><p>           Rex brought the Zabrak to a kneel again, on the floor. He kept his weapon trained on her. Ahsoka and Jaster shared a look, and then Ahsoka stepped away with her blaster. She took up a position near the doors to be a lookout.</p><p>           “Padawan Su’ani,” Jaster said softly. Su’ani turned to him fully, his blade raised. “Wotan. Right?”</p><p>           The other Jedi didn’t say a word.</p><p>           “I don’t want to hurt you,” Jaster said, and he slowly placed his blaster away. “I’m going to reach for my helmet.”</p><p>           Jaster removed it slowly. When he did, Padawan Su’ani’s expression remained unchanged.</p><p>           “My name is Jaster Vigil,” he said, He held his hands outstretched. “I’m a Jedi Knight. Over there, guarding the door, that’s Ahsoka Tano. Have you heard of either of us?”</p><p>           “Shut up,” said Su’ani. “This is a trick. It’s just a trick.”</p><p>           “It’s not a trick,” said Jaster. “My master is Obi-Wan Kenobi, and before him, I learned under Oppo Rancisis. Ahsoka was under Anakin Skywalker.”</p><p>           “No,” Su’ani said, and his voice was trembling. “You aren’t Jedi.”</p><p>           “No, Wotan, look.” Jaster pulled his lightsaber to his hand and held it out for Su’ani, un-ignited. From the floor, the Zabrak hissed in fury and in fear.</p><p>           Wotan snarled. “Who did you kill?” he said, and then again, louder. “Who did you kill?”</p><p>           “Keep your voice down-“</p><p>           “No! If you were a Jedi you’d feel like a Jedi.”</p><p>           “We have to stay hidden. Wotan, there’s more of us.”</p><p>           “No. No. They’re all dead. The Sith saw everything.”</p><p>           Jaster reached out a hand, and tried his best to project calm through the Force. “Listen to me,” he said. “Let Ahsoka and I help you.”</p><p>           The Padawan lowered his saber just a bit.</p><p>           “I feel you hurting,” said Jaster. “I can’t imagine what you had to do to survive this long. We’ve had to do some things too. But it’ll all be okay if you can just come back with us.”</p><p>           Padawan Su’ani’s breathing quickened again, and he raised his lightsaber. “There is no more going back!” the Padawan said. He swung at Jaster’s head. Jaster ducked, and when Wotan swung again, he brought his own saber to life and defended in a strong line across his body. Wotan raised his blade high and Jaster matched him. He brought the Padawan into a blade-lock.</p><p>           “You all right?” Ahsoka called to him.</p><p>           “Yeah!” Jaster said. He grimaced and shunted Su’ani away, then struck back with a couple of heavy shots of his own, meant to keep the younger Jedi out of range. He reached his hand again to Su’ani. “You’re falling,” Jaster pointed out. “You’re falling, but it’s not too late.”</p><p>           “Too late? For what?” Su’ani said. His voice was more ragged now. “The Republic to fall?” He swung at Jaster once, twice, thrice, and let loose a push that forced Jaster’s saber into the ground so he could stop himself. “It already has.”</p><p>           “It’s not too late to save yourself.” Jaster stood straight again, and he extended his hand back to Su’ani. “We can help you.”</p><p>           “Hurry up,” Ahsoka yelled from the door. “We’re running out of time.”</p><p>           “Clones?” said Rex.</p><p>           “Yes,” said Ahsoka. “They’re not-“</p><p>           She was interrupted by a grunt from Rex, who had been caught with a head-butt from the Zabrak. Before long, they were wrestling and shoving over one of Rex’s blasters, as she took advantage of what she clearly knew could be her last opportunity to avoid arrest.</p><p>           “Listen to me,” Jaster said, as he fended off attacks from Su’ani. “There’s still time to fight back before the Emperor gains full control. Help us do that.”</p><p>           “You aren’t strong enough! The Jedi were weak all along, we were weak.”</p><p>           “Yes,” Jaster said. He caught the younger man in a bladelock again. “But we can change that.”</p><p>           Behind him, Rex and the Zabrak were still fighting, and Ahsoka began to take potshots at the clones closing in. She called out to them. “It’s time! We’ve got to go!”</p><p>           “Please,” Jaster said. “Come with us.”</p><p>           “I won’t let you leave,” Su’ani hissed. “So what if I die? I’m dead anyway.”</p><p>           Jaster probed him again with the Force, and much to his dismay, he found that the Padawan was letting himself sink into the Dark Side now. Jaster took one more long look at him, and sighed. He wheeled his blade overhead and brought it crashing down on Su’ani, chaining together kicks and slashes until he found an opening of his own. A powerful Force blast sent Su’ani flying across the warehouse, and into the far wall.</p><p>           Jaster turned, and using the Force again, he shunted the Zabrak off of Rex. He positioned himself between them until Rex could get control of his weapons again, and gestured toward the door. “Go.” The Zabrak made to leave, and Jaster got into her path. “You can go a different way.”</p><p>           “Die and rot, Jedi.”</p><p>           Jaster just pointed behind her, to where Su’ani was regaining his feet. “I’m sorry,” Jaster said. Stepping backward, he followed Rex and Ahsoka, where they had made for the far door. When Su’ani and the Zabrak were both out of the range where they posed a threat, Jaster turned and ran after them, just as the first of the clones began to pour into the warehouse.</p><p>           Jaster could hear it as the Zabrak, and then Su’ani, died there. He and Ahsoka and Rex just made for the edge of the district, and silently, each of them tried to focus on the idea of just getting offworld. The taste of failure and defeat was bitter in their mouths.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           They could hear the yelling as soon as they crawled out of the starfighter access ports and back onto the <em>Ashla</em>. As usual, they had made a rendezvous in dead space, and Jaster certainly didn’t think there was anybody unwelcome on the ship, but the suspicions he did have were quickly alleviated when he picked out Anakin’s voice doing a majority of the yelling.</p><p>           Rex beckoned them over, before they went to face everyone. “I’m sorry,” he said. “She took me by surprise. I should have seen it coming.”</p><p>           “It’s all right,” said Ahsoka.</p><p>           “No—it almost cost us everything.”</p><p>           “I couldn’t help the Padawan,” Jaster said. “That almost cost us everything.”</p><p>           Rex took the point with a grimace.</p><p>           “He was too far gone for you to bring him back,” said Ahsoka.</p><p>           “I know. We did all that we could.”</p><p>           The three of them looked off to where the yelling seemed to come from.</p><p>           “All of a sudden I miss Nar Shaddaa,” said Rex. As much as Jaster wanted to chuckle at that, if only to reassure Rex, he found himself incapable, and it was clear Ahsoka felt the same.</p><p>           They went toward the noise together, and hardly anybody reacted to them when they arrived.</p><p>           Anakin and Yoda stood at opposite ends of the hallway, both looking livid with each other. Jaster couldn’t recall having seen anything even close to that expression on Yoda’s face before, and even Anakin seemed to have more of a rancor within him than usual. Obi-Wan and Padme had positioned themselves in the middle of the argument, but it seemed they’d both given up on a peaceful discussion for now.</p><p>           “You had <em>everything</em> in front of you!” Anakin shouted. He clenched both fists tight. “You knew about the inhibitor chips and Fives! You knew what Obi-Wan told you about Sidious!”<br/>           “Evidence, there was not, Skywalker,” Yoda snapped. “Proof, there was not. Clouded, was the Force, since the beginning of the Clone War.”</p><p>           “Was it clouded? Or were you just blind? The Force feels clearer now, after everything has fallen apart, than it has in years,” said Anakin. “Explain that. Explain how the Force clears only after the Jedi fall.”</p><p>           “A shroud, Sidious cast, in front of all of us,” Yoda said. “And in front of me. Suspect, I could not, the source. Not at the time, no. Suspect, you did not, either.”</p><p>           “Then you were blind after all,” said Anakin. “You. Grandmaster Yoda. Ten thousand Jedi Knights putting our absolute faith in you, our absolute trust in you, and what? This is where you brought us. You and Master Windu both.”</p><p>           Yoda darkened. “Speak ill of Master Windu, you <em>will not</em>, Skywalker. Too long, I have lived, and too many Jedi have I met, to hear you speak of our greatest in such a way.”</p><p>           “I’m the one who tried to save him when it mattered!” said Anakin. “If he was so great, then why couldn’t he and I together stand against Sidious? You claimed I was the Chosen One, you forced me to live inside of that curse until I finally was able to watch it fall apart. And you weren’t even there to see it. You’re the reason he won! You’re the reason Master Windu is dead, and all the others!”</p><p>           Obi-Wan stepped forward. “Anakin, that’s not fair-“</p><p>           “What about it isn’t fair? You should know more than anybody,” Anakin said. “The only reason you didn’t die in that office too is because you were sent <em>alone</em> to kill Grievous by the Council, what if that went wrong? Then where would you have been? And that would’ve been Yoda’s fault too.”</p><p>           Next to Jaster, he felt Ahsoka change in the Force, as well. “Master,” she said. “We bring news from Nar Shaddaa. Please, slow down for a moment.”</p><p>           Anakin glared at her. “What happened? Where’s the Padawan?”</p><p>           “We were unable to recover him,” Ahsoka said. “He was immersed in the Dark Side when we found him.”</p><p>           “What do you mean, you were unable to recover him? He was a Padawan! You left him there?”</p><p>           “Anakin-“ started Obi-Wan.</p><p>           “We had to retreat from the situation,” Jaster said. “I attempted to talk him down as best I could, but we had a squad closing on our position and we wouldn’t have been able to successfully extract him against his will. We also enlisted the help of a bounty hunter to find the Padawan, but she became non-compliant at exactly the wrong time.”</p><p>           “So you left him,” said Anakin. “And, what? The clones got him?”</p><p>           “Yes,” said Jaster. “We did everything we could, but he was too far gone.”</p><p>           Anakin was deadly silent, and for whatever reason, Yoda seemed disinterested in even making a comment on the matter. Obi-Wan just looked back and forth between them, waiting for the first one to speak, as Padme, Rex, and all the other onlookers just shrunk a bit in the Force.</p><p>           “Tell me now,” Anakin said slowly, “That you did not leave a Jedi child to die at the hands of clones.”</p><p>           “We had no <em>choice</em>-“</p><p>           “It was a simple extraction! There is no excuse!” Anakin yelled, and he was in Jaster’s face now. “You asked for trust to carry out this mission-“</p><p>           Ahsoka shoved Anakin. “Master! If you’re going to be mad, it’s on me too!”</p><p>           “No,” Anakin said, elbowing his way back in front of Jaster. “He’s the Knight on the mission, it was his to get wrong or right.”</p><p>           “Then I got it wrong!”</p><p>           Anakin’s eyes flashed, and he shoved Jaster. Jaster shoved him back. In the span of a thought, both of them had a hand on their saber, and then their sabers were drawn by their sides, and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka and Yoda all rushed forward to separate them. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka focused toward Anakin, while Jaster felt himself lifted and set down several meters away by the Grandmaster. Yoda was still dispassionate about the whole thing, if his face was any indication, but he shook his head to Jaster. “Troubled, Skywalker is. Feed him, you must not.”</p><p>           Jaster ignored him, and put his saber back onto his belt. He kept his distance, but he found an angle where Anakin could see him over Obi-Wan’s shoulder. Thoroughly unlike himself, Jaster was mad now, too.</p><p>           “Push me now?” Jaster called to him. “You push me now? Jedi Knight, Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker, youngest Councillor in a generation? Natural candidate to lead the Jedi Order? You’re going to push me and shove me now?”</p><p>           Anakin tried to push past Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, but they held their ground. “You let him die!”</p><p>           “I had to let him go, because he Fell,” Jaster yelled, “and if any Jedi still alive knows anything about Falling, it’s you. Come on, Anakin, how many years did you have a foot out the door on the Jedi? You want to talk about how Yoda was blind not to see Sidious, fine, but I’m not going to keep pretending you didn’t show up every time you got a call to the Chancellor’s office.” Anakin looked rancorous at that, but Jaster shouted him down before he could get a word out. “Let’s not keep pretending you didn’t stop being a Jedi when you thought someone might take <em>her</em>-“ he pointed to Padme- “or <em>her</em>-“ he pointed to Ahsoka- “or <em>him</em>-“ he pointed to Obi-Wan- “away from you. Let’s not pretend that if Sidious hadn’t played his cards just a little better, put one of them in more risk, you wouldn’t be by his side right now <em>desperate</em> to keep them safe. The Council led us down the wrong path, they did, but Anakin, you weren’t even on the path with us in the first place. Look at me and tell me I’m wrong. Look at me, and tell me I am wrong.”</p><p>           Anakin sputtered, and he grew red in the face. Obi-Wan looked at Jaster, one part grateful for what he had said and one part horrified at what might come next. Anakin’s face began to change, and he searched for the words to express the venom he so clearly wanted to hurl at Jaster-</p><p>           “Captain!”</p><p>           The word cut through the tension, and everyone was caught by surprise to see Rex, yelling into the ship’s internal comms station beside them.</p><p>           “Captain!” he yelled again. “You’ve got twenty minutes standard to find a safe, unoccupied planet and set us down. Twenty minutes and I want us on land, in a safe, breathable atmosphere. Set us down. Am I clear?”</p><p>           “Clear, Commander,” came the response.</p><p>Rex turned around and instantly read the confusion across the room, and he took full advantage. “You,” he said, his face beet-red as he stared at Anakin. “You can shut the hell up, for once in your undeservedly lucky life, and remember your station. And you.” He turned to Jaster. “Kid, I will defend you till the day I die, but you speak to my General like that again-“ He bit back the next words. “And all of you,” he hissed, making eye contact with each of the Jedi and lingering for a long time on Yoda. “I feel as if I can imagine, a bit, what it must feel like to have your family torn away from you and to be reminded viscerally of that loss every day, everywhere you turn. I do feel that we have some common ground there. But there is no excuse—<em>no </em>excuse—for you all not being particularly Jedi at all since everything went to karking Sith hells.” Rex looked over to Padme. “Am I wrong, Senator? In how I’m seeing any of this?”</p><p>“No, Rex, you’re not.” Padme fixed each Jedi with a long, icy glare of her own. “We are the last vestige of hope and liberty in this Galaxy, and the only five beings with any chance of making this right have been acting as if they have no intention of doing so. We will set the ship down, and we will stay on the planetary surface for as long as it takes each of you to get yourselves stabilized. We will not win a war against the Empire by fighting a war against each other.”</p><p>Rex nodded, his jaw set. “Prepare to land. I don’t care how all of you make this right between yourselves, but you will make it <em>right</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Twenty Days after Knightfall.</em>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Very interested to hear what you all thought of this one.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Lull</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Twenty Days after Knightfall</em>
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<p>           Like every droid that Anakin Skywalker had ever come across, his children’s nanny droid had undergone some extensive and necessary modifications. Sure, it maybe didn’t need an ability to go twice as fast as the recommended speed and maintain perfect balance, or an ability to transform itself into a baby carriage for two, complete with a repulsorlift. But it felt important at the time.</p>
<p>           They had set down on a savannah planet, one without any meaningful sentient presence and relatively light in the area of dangerous megafauna. As soon as the ship hit the ground, Anakin had been out, and Padme had, thankfully, allowed him to bring the babies along too.</p>
<p>           Anakin was exhausted. And not only that, but he could <em>feel </em>Sidious reaching for him, all the time, through black slimy tendrils that poked and prodded at his shields, and the ones around his children, and the ones he had erected around Padme. He had put those there as soon as he had escaped from Sidious on Coruscant, and since that moment Sidious had been pushing on those shields relentlessly. He hadn’t told Yoda or any of the others—after all, what could they do about it that he couldn’t? They were supposed to be dead, and if they helped bolster his shields, there would be a chance Sidious would feel their presence. Anakin couldn’t afford that risk.</p>
<p>           He led the nanny droid and the children to a lone tree, out in the grassland, where they could shelter in its shade and where the <em>Ashla</em> almost seemed swallowed up when he looked back at it. He took the children, one in each arm, and he looked down at them sadly.</p>
<p>           “Uncle Obi-Wan is disappointed again,” he told them. “Of course he is. He would protect Master Yoda, he would protect all of us, if it killed him, and I forced him to protect them from me.”</p>
<p>           Luke stirred a bit, and he bounced the boy in his arm. He loved to look at the ways the babies’ faces moved, even when their mouths opened to cry. The noise was worth it.</p>
<p>           “You two should’ve seen me,” Anakin murmured. “I was ready to fight Jaster, I really was. And he was ready to fight me. But then he started making good points, I don’t know what’s worse.” He sighed, and he turned his gaze to the horizon. “And then Rex, trying to manage me. Your uncle Rex doesn’t think I notice, when he tries to make things feel fair for me. Yelling at Jaster so that him yelling at me might hurt less. He did it with Ahsoka, with the 501<sup>st</sup>…and the thing is, it works.”</p>
<p>           Leia cooed, and Anakin let <em>warm </em>and <em>soft</em> and <em>safe</em> wash over her through the Force. She burbled again, just a bit, as if to say thank you.</p>
<p>           “Rex is right,” Anakin said softly. “I do think things should be fair. And then, when Rex found Jaster and pulled him aside…probably to explain how he wasn’t really mad…Jaster gets it too. He manages me, too.”</p>
<p>           He took a moment, and probed at Luke and Leia under their shields. They were so powerful, so raw and light. They were twin suns in the void, constrained only by the tight-fitting barrier Anakin and the others had put between them and the rest of the Cosmic Force. He was managing them, even now, but that was necessary. They were babies, they didn’t know better.</p>
<p>           But then, Anakin mused, the only reason they needed so much managing was because of how damn powerful they were. And they’d gotten it from him. Maybe that was why the others were so eager to manage him.</p>
<p>           “You two like Yoda,” Anakin said. “I used to. When I first learned of the Jedi, it was Master Qui-Gon who hung the stars…and then, it was Yoda, for a long time. I only saw Obi-Wan that way after I got through my really stupid years. Before that, Yoda was the only one who felt like me, when I reached out in the Force and tried to touch someone powerful. But he wasn’t powerful like I thought he was.” Anakin fixed his eyes on the horizon again. “Ten thousand Jedi Knights, and every one of us thought Master Yoda could do no wrong. That he was infallible, or maybe even immortal. We would have followed him anywhere. And so we went where he told us, and trusted that his vision was clear. We should have considered that maybe, he was the most clouded of all of us.”</p>
<p>           Anakin chanced a look back at the ship. It looked like things were quiet over there. He could see the ship’s crew, setting up a little camp under the shade of a cluster of trees. Obi-Wan was out walking in the opposite direction from Anakin, and Ahsoka and Rex were out there too. The others were nowhere to be seen. All of them were keeping a distance from each other, then.</p>
<p>           “I shouldn’t be so angry at Yoda,” said Anakin. “I know that he could only see what hadn’t been hidden from him. But it was his <em>job</em> to see past the fog and the darkness. It was his job to face Sidious, and it was my job to face Sidious. We weren’t supposed to both fail, and maybe we wouldn’t have…except Yoda never even got close. And now he has the nerve. Just like he had the nerve to decide I was the Chosen One.”</p>
<p>           Something flickered in Luke and Leia’s Force signatures, at those words. Anakin realized it was probably because his own had flickered, too. Combined, Anakin and his children were more a vergence of the Force than nearly anything Anakin had felt, but there was nothing chosen about that. There was nothing so strong that it would overturn the tables Sidious had set, and that Yoda had allowed to be set.</p>
<p>           Anakin shook his head. “How is it that of all of us, it’s Rex with the clearest head?” Luke gurgled, and Anakin grinned at him. “You’re right, it’s because he’s the only one without Jedi nonsense to think about.” Anakin looked at the ground. “It felt a lot better before we figured out it was nonsense.”</p>
<p>           He set the children back into the nanny droid’s carriage, and he sat down beside them. The grass was nearly all the way dry, save a few specks of dew that the sun hadn’t yet eaten up.</p>
<p>           Sidious was still there, pressing on his walls, searching for a crack. Anakin found it sobering. He hadn’t had to question anything about his emotions during the war—they had fed into him, brought him to his greatest victories. They had kept the others safe. Nothing really bad had ever seemed to happen to Obi-Wan or Ahsoka or Rex or anybody else until he wasn’t around to save them, and he had taken purpose from that. He had leaned into his passion to protect them.</p>
<p>           But now, even as he resented Yoda for letting him fall so close, for speaking to him in riddles and pretending that he was so much more prodigious than anyone else while making him no less fallible…in the back of his mind, he knew that Yoda had been right. That awareness was coming to the surface, now. He would have been so…easy, for Sidious to infect and control, if even just one or two more things had slipped. If Padme had fallen ill or had a complication, if Ahsoka hadn’t come back, if Grievous had somehow beaten Obi-Wan…if Dooku had beaten Anakin again. If even one of those small things had changed, Anakin knew, he would have squeezed his eyes shut to ignore Sidious as he begged for Palpatine’s help in saving those he loved.</p>
<p>           And now, the babies were here, too. There was nobody else who came close to the urge Anakin felt to safeguard Luke and Leia. Nobody.</p>
<p>           Once Anakin had become attuned to the new way the Force felt, he wasn’t surprised to have found Sidious pushing at him. But when he had followed that influence, and found it elsewhere…that had made it clear, to Anakin, how far Sidious’ influence really went. It had been thick on Ahsoka. Thicker on Obi-Wan. Even thicker on Padme, whose mental shields were the weakest of all. He’d been going after them all. To get to Anakin. And when Anakin had extended his shields over all of them, he’d seen how their spirits had lifted and they became more okay. He was still doing it now, although he hadn’t figured out a way to explain it to them yet.</p>
<p>           He would have turned. He knew that, really. He would have turned, if it had been different. Yoda knew that, Obi-Wan knew that, Ahsoka knew that. Jaster, smug and smart as ever, probably looked down at him for it. But…it was Falling, Anakin supposed, and that was probably as good a thing as any to look down on.</p>
<p>           The planet’s sun was hanging lower and lower in the sky. The grasslands didn’t feel dangerous, but to Anakin, wild places so rarely did. They felt new, and fun, and boundless. Not dangerous. Anakin was still unsure as to why that was.</p>
<p>           He spoke again, so Luke and Leia could hear. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t help but feel a little bit responsible for the galaxy you’re going to grow up in. After all…Sidious made it like this in order to get to me. In order to have me.” He looked over at the carriage, where he just barely could see the crest of Leia’s forehead above its rim. “If I can promise you anything, it’s that you won’t grow up slaves like I did. And you won’t be a slave as a grown-up, either. Like I’m not.”</p>
<p>           A chilled wind brushed Anakin from the west. He had always loved how cold these vast spaces got at night, ever since he had come to cherish the dark on Tatooine. But, then again…the babies probably wouldn’t understand the appeal.</p>
<p>           He got to his feet, and the nanny droid followed him back to camp. It was set up now, framed in the sunset, little tents and lean-tos so that they could at least enjoy the fresh air after three weeks standard in the void.</p>
<p>           They’d set out a table, and as the nanny droid carried the babies back into the ship, Anakin sat down. He picked up some of the older dead grasses from the ground, and as he waited, he wove them into a long wick.</p>
<p>           Obi-Wan was the first to see him, and join him. The older man sat directly across from him, and they shared a look they both understood fully without speaking. Obi-Wan looked tired, perhaps even more so than he had ever been during the war.</p>
<p>           Anakin pulled more grasses from the ground, as the wick grew longer and thicker. His metal fingers were better than the flesh ones at this.</p>
<p>           Padme and Jaster had come down the ramp together, deep in conversation. Anakin had tried not to bristle when he noticed, not toward Padme. He moved over and made a seat for her, at his side. Jaster knew enough to sit as far away from Anakin as the benches and stools would allow, and when Jaster or Anakin did chance a look at each other, it was to glare.</p>
<p>           Anakin began to weave a base for the wick, a little cone that spread outward. Nobody said anything to each other. Padme placed a hand in the crook of Anakin’s elbow, and watched as he worked.</p>
<p>           Sabe joined them, and then Yoda, soon after. Yoda and Jaster sat next to each other, which Anakin found…apt. But he certainly didn’t complain about it, either.</p>
<p>           The cone-base was finished up after not too long, and Anakin added more grasses on the long part of the wick, weaving in fresh ones that he knew would give the whole thing more staying power.</p>
<p>           It was nearly all the way dark by the time Ahsoka and Rex got back. Neither of them seemed that surprised, but both were guarded as they took seats.</p>
<p>           They all sat there in silence for a minute, and then another.</p>
<p>           Anakin finished the final touches on his wick, and he set the cone-end down on the table. He called his lightsaber to his hand, and flicked it out exactly as far as was needed. Once his candle was lit, the blade disappeared back into the hilt, before it had even gotten a third of the way out.</p>
<p>           The candle burned bright, and sweet. Their faces were illuminated in the dark.</p>
<p>           “I’d like to stay here for a while, if that’s okay.” Anakin didn’t look at anybody when he said it.</p>
<p>           “Yeah,” Ahsoka said. Next to her, Obi-Wan nodded. Sabe gave Anakin a little smile, and showed her agreement as well.</p>
<p>           Rex cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I lost my temper-“</p>
<p>           “Right, you were,” Yoda said softly. “Right, you still are, and correct, your assessment of our situation was. Not very Jedi, have I been, or were any of us.”</p>
<p>           “It wasn’t right of me to speak to you that way,” said Rex. “Any of you. You’re Jedi, not Shinies.”</p>
<p>           Obi-Wan looked up. “We have gone very quickly from tragedy to survival, and from survival to a renewed purpose. Perhaps we moved too quickly.”</p>
<p>           “The failure on the missions has been my fault,” said Jaster. “Especially on the last one. We should have been able to extract the Padawan.”</p>
<p>           “No,” Padme said. She tightened her grip on Anakin’s arm, just slightly, telling him not to contradict her now. “The situation became impossible, and that is all right. Our mistake has been in expecting ourselves to be able to win so easily, like we all used to. We don’t have a galaxy behind us anymore.”</p>
<p>           The whole table fell silent at that. They thought about the implications of Padme’s words, for a long time. Anakin didn’t like the implications, and it was clear that the others didn’t, either.</p>
<p>           Ahsoka was the first one to speak again. “I think it would benefit all of us to take some time. We aren’t going to turn the tide of what’s happening now, and there’s still too much confusion and chaos for us to make decisions wisely. If we stayed here a few days, and watch the intelligence-“</p>
<p>           “And take time to strengthen ourselves again,” said Obi-Wan. “We must take time to rebuild ourselves.”</p>
<p>           Yoda inclined his head. “Wise, this is. Find space, we Jedi must, to begin to connect ourselves again to the Living Force. Alive, this planet is. Filled with Light. Betray us, it will not. Wound us again, it will not.”</p>
<p>           “I can watch the intelligence,” said Sabe. “Anybody who would like to help is welcome to join me, but of everybody, I’m the one least in need of time to heal. I cannot say the same for any of you.”</p>
<p>           Obi-Wan nodded. “Then it’s settled. We will stay here, at least for a little while. Whatever is happening to the Galaxy now, we cannot aid them if we risk wasting ourselves away in the process. I will be in my quarters for the night, if I am needed.”</p>
<p>           One by one, the group all left for their dinners and their beds, until only Padme and Anakin remained. They stared together into the candle, burning and burning until it was low. He pressed into her, and she rested her head on him.</p>
<p>The silence of the plain was deafening.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>* * * * *</p>
<p> </p>
<p>           Padme took one last, diligent walk through the <em>Ashla</em> from bow to stern, jotting down notes as she went and as she remembered them. Every once in a while, from behind her, Motee would chime in with an invaluable observation, and they’d chat about it a bit while Padme wrote it down. Padme liked her lists complete and well-kept, and each of her handmaidens understood the intrinsic value to making sure that Padme’s lists were exactly as she wanted them to be.</p>
<p>           After all, for all intents and purposes, Padme and Rex were the leaders of their crew. The Jedi were still present, but they’d all removed themselves from the day-to-day happenings of the encampment except to occasionally sleep or use the refreshers. Even Anakin was mostly out of reach, including the time that he spent with Luke and Leia. Honestly, Padme didn’t mind much—she loved him deeply, of course, but during the war she had both grown fond of his presence and comfortable in his absence. Life was less fun, when Anakin wasn’t around, but it was so much more straightforward, and with far fewer crash-landings.</p>
<p>           The Jedi were meditating. Rex had explained the particulars to her—he had spent much more time with them than Padme, out on campaign across the Galaxy. From what Rex understood, it was the way Jedi best knew to commune with the Force intentionally. It was more complete than just using their powers, and more clear than discussion, and more under their control than full-on immersion. It rested them, and healed them, so much so that it was almost a complete substitute for sleep. And they had all showed its effects. They’d each chosen their spots out in the grassland, and often when Padme went to sleep at night, she would wake up to find them all in the same spots in the morning, unbothered by how their robes were damp from the cold and dew.</p>
<p>           More importantly, Rex told her, Jedi could meditate with each other in a way that allowed them to communicate far more deeply than a conversation would allow. They were feeling each other’s essences, in a way Rex had resigned himself to accepting that a Force-null would never understand. They were…well, Anakin had describe it to Rex once that the Jedi would almost sing the same songs in harmony to each other, as they meditated, and they would learn from the differences in how the song sounded from one Jedi to the other. Anakin had never described it quite that way to Padme, but she did understand what he meant, to a degree. Early on, Anakin had gotten it into his head that he could open Padme to the Force if he meditated with her—it hadn’t worked, but Padme had ended up feeling light and buzzy at the end of each session, in a way that had certainly felt harmonious. Now, it appeared that each of the Jedi was doing that with each other, and they very much needed it.</p>
<p>           In Padme’s opinion, they were all depressed. Yoda was the worst of them—Padme had enjoyed his kooky sayings during the war, but he’d developed into a crabby, cantankerous old grouch since Order 66, except for when he was with Luke and Leia. He’d gotten quiet, and standoffish, and defensive over the slightest of things. Padme couldn’t blame him, of course, she couldn’t even come close to understanding the position he was in. But the little Jedi troll had been a pain, at times.</p>
<p>           Obi-Wan was only slightly better. He was focused on the objectives and missions to come, yes, but he was also quite glum about it all in a way that Padme found uncharacteristic. He was clinging tightly to the ideals of the Jedi, that much was clear from listening to him. But Obi-Wan seemed like a man from whom the war had taken everything—his family, his love, his home. Everything but his brother, and his students, and his master. There was only the Jedi Order left for Obi-Wan, reasoned Padme, and only the Force.</p>
<p>           Of course, Padme hadn’t just declined to work her sources within the remaining Jedi Order, either. Each time Ahsoka had perked her head up and come to the <em>Ashla</em> for a ration pack, Padme had stopped her and gently inquired about what was going on out there between them. The general story was that Ahsoka and Anakin had been communing together, a lot, with Anakin going deep down into what he had felt around Sidious and how close he’d gotten to Falling. Apparently, Ahsoka was the only one he trusted enough to tell such things. Ahsoka had also communed quite a bit with Jaster, who had communed with Obi-Wan and Yoda, who had communed with each other. And Anakin and Obi-Wan had shared time together, of course. But, according to Ahsoka, Anakin had done little to reach out to Yoda or Jaster. Yoda didn’t seem to be reaching out to anyone, just giving back attention when it was given to him, but Jaster and Anakin seemed equally dead-set on avoiding each other.</p>
<p>           Ahsoka did mention that Yoda had expanded his awareness, at one point, and allowed all the others to draw on his strength in a way that they all still were. To Ahsoka, it had seemed like Yoda’s afterthought, but Ahsoka had made clear that in the world of Jedi meditation, it was seen as a very kind gesture. Padme hoped that maybe it meant Yoda was coming around.</p>
<p>           Ahsoka had said one other thing, and it was the one Padme had taken the most faith in. She had said that they were all feeling…better. They were all still reeling from the many wounds in the Force, they didn’t feel at all safe or whole, but they felt better than they had since before the end of the war. Ahsoka had told Padme how important that was, that at least things were improving. Jedi emotions in the Force tended to spiral, she said—if the emotions trend downward, they’re likely to focus acutely and go further downward, but if they trend positively, the same will happen in a positive sense. Padme resolved to never forget that her many Jedi would eventually spiral on her.</p>
<p>           Padme was wrapping up her final note-taking session now, though, and she had a meeting to call. It had been six days since the Jedi began to meditate, and in Padme’s opinion, they could all take a break long enough to learn what had happened in their relative absence. She and the other Force-nulls had made good use of their time: retrofitting the <em>Ashla</em> to be more mission- and baby-friendly; keeping a close eye on the Holonet while making full use of the intelligence transceiver; scouting the planet around them; and drawing up operating procedures for important topics like deep-space rendezvouses and vetting new arrivals to the crew. The Jedi could pause long enough to have a chat.</p>
<p>           As her Handmaidens approached each of the Jedi, and gently stirred them from their meditations, she arrayed her notes out on the outdoor table. They’d set up a relatively nice little camp, given what space they had, and Padme quite liked the planet they’d chosen. It was really beautiful. Perhaps, that had played a bigger role than Padme liked to admit, in her scouting campaign to assess the planet’s worthiness as a base.</p>
<p>           Rex sat down at Padme’s right hand, and Sabe at her left. The ship’s captain and the rest of the handmaidens came to join them, and one by one, the Jedi finished their meditations and gathered at the table as well. The crew had built it much bigger, enough to seat everybody comfortably this time, rather than all hunched together over a single candle like they’d been the first night.</p>
<p>           Padme called the meeting to order. “I apologize for interrupting your meditations,” she said. “It’s been six days since we set down, and an update was in order. Firstly, before I go through my list, how have your reflections been?” she said, asking any of the Jedi at all.</p>
<p>           Obi-Wan smiled softly. “They’ve been refreshing,” he admitted. “The Light Side of the Force is strong on this planet, and relatively unblemished by any signs of darkness. For a Jedi to finally reconnect with the world outside oneself, after so long being withdrawn, is usually dangerous. But not here.”</p>
<p>           Yoda nodded along. “Rejuvenating, this time has been. Less old, I feel, now.”</p>
<p>           “I’m glad to hear that, Masters,” said Padme. She gave each of them her fullest warm smile. “We’ve taken the liberty of scouting the planet, while you have been convalescing, and to the best of our ability, we’ve done so. Members of the crew have taken the starfighter for most of the day, each day, to do reconnaissance, and we’ve found that there are no inhabited areas within five-hundred klicks in any direction. The nearest is a small livestock-farming village. The nearest spaceport, by contrast, is the only spaceport, and it’s clear on the opposite side of the planet with no Imperial presence. A few thousand beings live there, at most. The planet seems free of any especially dangerous megafauna, and this area in particular is in a valley a hundred klicks across, insulated on all sides by mountains. I hesitate to take the liberty to say so, but…this planet may serve us well as a long-term base of operations.”</p>
<p>           Jaster nodded. “There’s no need for an established base yet,” he said, “and not without a full-time crew to defend it and monitor the surrounding system. But I agree, if we make it far enough that we have those kinds of resources, a planet like this would be perfect.”</p>
<p>           “And, of course,” said Anakin, “We can keep on coming back here for temporary stays as many times as we can do it safely.”</p>
<p>           A member of the <em>Ashla</em>’s crew audibly sighed in relief, at that, and a few people around the table chuckled.</p>
<p>           “What’s the plan until we can stock a base?” said Rex.</p>
<p>           “It’ll be the <em>Ashla </em>for now,” said Jaster. “Hopefully, if we can acquire a few other small ships, we can decentralize our command in case of emergencies. As long as we’re quick, mobile, and we’re spread between as many ships as possible, the Empire will have a hard time pinning us down.”</p>
<p>           Padme accepted the wisdom in that, although internally she cursed the thought of so much time in dead space. “With regard to the Galaxy, things are bad,” she said. “But we knew that already, and they’re no worse a sort of bad than they were when we arrived here. In fact, it seems that the active rebellions and uprisings on many worlds have died out. Whether that’s due to the population losing interest or the actions of the Empire, it’s hard to tell on the Holonet, but the intelligence we’ve gathered suggests it’s pieces of both.”</p>
<p>           “What of the Wookiees?” said Yoda. “Any word on Kashyyyk, is there?”</p>
<p>           “Or Utapau?” asked Obi-Wan. “Coruscant? Mandalore?”</p>
<p>           “Nothing on Utapau,” Padme said. “It appears that aside from a few bands of resistance, the Wookiees have been largely defeated, thanks to the efforts of Sly Moore. By the way, her Sith name has become known…Darth Moor.”</p>
<p>           Padme didn’t need to access the Force to understand how the mood changed in the Jedi. Anakin’s face soured, and Yoda’s ears tucked downward. Ahsoka, for her part, just rolled her eyes. “Darth Moor? For Sly Moore? And Maul, Tyranus…he has no creativity,” she said. Rex barked out a laugh, at that, but when he noticed the sad look Obi-Wan shot Ahsoka, he quickly stifled it.</p>
<p>           “The Wookiee leadership,” said Yoda. “Know of their whereabouts, do you?”</p>
<p>           “I don’t.”</p>
<p>           Yoda appeared to accept the news.</p>
<p>           Anakin leaned forward. “Has there been enough information on Darth Moor’s movements to be able to intercept her? Any direct evidence of how powerful she is?”</p>
<p>           “No, there’s been nothing,” said Rex. “Far as we can tell, her movements aren’t discussed in the intelligence, and her presence in the Holonet is pure propaganda. They’re saying she was an undercover Jedi assassin to kill the Emperor, but that she was loyal to him from the time the foolish Jedi Council assigned her as a child soldier. Holonet is lapping it up.”</p>
<p>           “That’s outrageous,” Anakin said.</p>
<p>           “It’s a good story,” Jaster shrugged. The two of them shared a terse look, but nothing came of it.</p>
<p>           Padme took the reins again. “With regard to the rest of the Galaxy, there has been news on tribunals for the surviving Separatist leadership, and new leaders established on a number of formerly resisting worlds. Imperial governors, called Moffs, are taking control of each sector.”</p>
<p>           “How easy are they to bring down?” said Ahsoka.</p>
<p>           “Hard.” Rex shook his head. “They each maintain vast armies, and it looks like those will only be getting bigger.”</p>
<p>           “There is one other essential piece of news,” Padme said. She waited until she had the group’s full attention. “The Emperor released a list of specific, named Jedi survivors, and initiated a manhunt with the full resources of the Empire devoted to it. Anakin, Jaster, you were both on the list.”</p>
<p>           Anakin exhaled slowly, thinking to himself.</p>
<p>           “All right,” said Jaster. He looked down toward his feet. “I suppose that wasn’t anything we didn’t see coming. We knew they knew about both of us.”</p>
<p>           Anakin looked over toward Jaster, and waited until the younger Jedi met his gaze. “It’ll be fine,” Anakin said. Padme could see in his face that he had almost resisted saying anything, but she could also see, after Anakin said it, how glad he was that he’d spoken up. “It’ll be fine,” he said again, and Jaster nodded back to him. For the first time in weeks, they shared a flicker of understanding.</p>
<p>           “Master Yoda, Master Kenobi, Ahsoka,” said Padme. “None of you were named. Captain Rex wasn’t, either. According to the Empire, you’re all dead.”</p>
<p>           Ahsoka frowned. “What about you?”</p>
<p>           Padme bit her lip. She’d hoped to give Anakin this news in private, afterward. She exhaled and steeled herself. “I have been expelled from my Senate seat, and labeled a traitor and a deserter. According to Imperial propaganda, I fled the combined efforts of Imperial and Nabooian Intelligence, and I am currently on the run with my…my Jedi husband.”</p>
<p>           By the time anyone could react, Anakin had already pounded down on the table with both hands. He let out a long string of curses in Huttese, and stopped himself, with great effort, from standing up. He gathered himself, and closed his eyes, and let out a long breath. “The babies?”</p>
<p>           “One baby, according to the propaganda. But yes, they knew there was going to be a child.”</p>
<p>           Obi-Wan reached out a hand for Anakin. “Calm yourself,” he said. “The children are here with us, safe, out of Sidious’ reach.”</p>
<p>           “They’re targets of a manhunt. Whichever one the Empire sees first.”</p>
<p>           “We will not allow the Empire to see them,” Obi-Wan said. “Not until they are ready. Not for many years.”</p>
<p>           “I grew up under a different Empire,” said Anakin. “But empires always see you, no matter how hard you try.”</p>
<p>           Padme spoke up, and used the voice that worked best on Anakin. “That may be true,” she said. “But it is not true now. I am safe, and the children are safe.”</p>
<p>           Anakin took a long moment to sit with that. Everybody let him.</p>
<p>           Jaster, surprisingly, was the first one to address him. “If my saying something will get us drawing sabers on each other again, just say so, but-“</p>
<p>           “Go ahead.”</p>
<p>           Jaster nodded. “The Empire has no idea where we are,” he said. “They have no idea what our resources are, or our financial backers, or our personnel. They don’t even know how many children you have. Right now, information and intelligence are everything, to us and to the Empire. And we have so much more information about the Empire’s capabilities than they have about ours. Hell, they don’t even know that there is an <em>our</em>. They just think they’re hunting you, and Padme, and a child, and that kind of hunt is one we can avoid for decades. The three of you wouldn’t fly a ship this size with a crew this large. We’re inconspicuous, because we’re too conspicuous.”</p>
<p>           Anakin was already nodding well before Jaster finished. “As long as we keep ourselves disguised, and stay ahead of what our operation capacity should be, we’ll be fine. We hide under the overhead.”</p>
<p>           “Exactly,” said Jaster.</p>
<p>           The two of them shared another look, and this time, Padme knew that there wasn’t much more to worry about.</p>
<p>           “Now, if we could get into what I’m proposing for the next several weeks,” Padme said. She shuffled through her papers. “I believe that it is likely best to lay low for as long as we can, for three reasons. We should avoid the early stages of the manhunt, firstly, and secondly, we don’t have enough information right now to launch a successful mission anywhere. Third, and most important, the Galaxy is no good to us as a recruiting ground until it dies down a bit and we can sneak around Imperial forces, rather than confronting them when they expect combat.”</p>
<p>           “During that time, what would you have us do?” Obi-Wan stroked his chin.</p>
<p>           “Continue as we have been, mostly,” said Padme. “Continue healing from Order 66. We have plenty to do. Ideally, we will need several weeks on order to complete the full list of retrofits and upgrades we’ve planned for the <em>Ashla</em>.” Padme spread out all of her notes pages dealing with that. “The real obstacle will be buying enough, in low-enough quantities and with sufficient masking, that nobody will catch on to our objective.”</p>
<p>           “So we want to keep on doing nothing?” said Ahsoka.</p>
<p>           Anakin, of all people, turned to Ahsoka and shook his head. “No. We keep learning, and we keep strengthening our connection to the Force until we’re actually able to keep up with what we need to be. Once we’ve done that, maybe we can branch out.”</p>
<p>           “Master, I don’t think anything will be gained from sitting here and not dealing with the things happening across the Galaxy.”</p>
<p>           “Put yourself in the shoes of another Jedi,” said Anakin. He paused, and thought over his point. “You’re all alone, you’re escaping, you’re surviving. All of a sudden, someone from the Order comes up to you. What’s going on?”</p>
<p>           “A rescue,” said Ahsoka.</p>
<p>           “A trap,” Yoda corrected her gently.”</p>
<p>           “Why?” said Ahsoka.</p>
<p>           “Because most Jedi are still in immediate danger, and had their clones turn on them. And the Emperor. Right now, it seems like everybody is trying to kill them, and no matter who shows up, it’ll just seem like another trick. As long as they’re afraid, they will not come back to us. They’ll die before they go with someone who could be an illusion.”</p>
<p>           Ahsoka shrugged. “I guess I could see it.”</p>
<p>           “It’s just how it is,” said Anakin. “If they fall back on their training, and keep themselves sharp, we’ll see them again in the Order. But it won’t be right now, and that’s okay. It’s going to have to be okay. Because the alternative is that…well, everybody dies.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Twenty-Six Days after Knightfall. </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Krayt</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A quick word before you read this chapter: I mentioned at the start that this story would pull from Legends content, and it's probably time to clarify that, now that we're moving into the bulk of the story. While I want to be as canon-inclusive as I can, this story is going to take a Legends-first approach in terms of the characters we introduce, the themes we work with, and the deeper events within the story. I think the two chronologies can mostly coexist, especially in a situation like ours where we've destabilized both plotlines, but I'll be going more heavily on the Legends side than I will the canon.</p><p>But as a result, I'll also be linking to info-pages on the people I'll be adding in, for folks who might be more familiar with canon content. We'll meet the first of these today: Darth Krayt.<br/>https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Darth_Krayt</p><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Thirty-Five Days after Knightfall</em>
</p><p> </p><p>           It had not taken A’Sharad Hett long, at all, to understand that he would need an army to combat the Empire.</p><p>           And A’Sharad Hett had entered the Galaxy with an army as his birthright.</p><p>           The Tuskens had been easy enough to approach. He still knew the language intimately—although it had been decades since he had carried a conversation, it was still the first he had ever known. Once he had accumulated his gear, it had been simple to remind his old clan of the stories of his father, and impress them with his own sabers. That had put six thousand warriors at his back, and from there, his numbers had only grown.</p><p>           They would need more, to take on the Sith. Much more.</p><p>           A’Sharad had deduced quickly that Palpatine had been the other Sith. Sidious, as Master Mundi had told him, mere weeks before the end of the War. It was too clean, too efficient, too expedited for the culprit to have been anyone else. A’Sharad did not need proof. The Force had hummed when he had guessed it, and that was a sign enough.</p><p>           To defeat the Sith, A’Sharad would need much more than gaderffi and banthas. But…he would work his way upward, with time. With time came conquest, and with conquest came resources, and with resources came opportunity. On Tatooine, he had time, and with his new army, he had an opportunity to enact conquest. Now, it was simply a matter of resource acquisition.</p><p>           A’Sharad stood atop the crest of a long ridge. Beside him, his best lieutenant, and the Tusken warrior who had led the clan prior to his arrival, As’akk’erw’ll. They surveyed the valley bowl beneath them, and muttered back and forth in Tusken.</p><p>           As’akk’erw’ll pointed at different spots of interest, in the moisture-farmer village below. Mos Jarvus, it was called, if A’Sharad’s memory served. There were perhaps two hundred farmers living in the village itself, plus three or four hundred ranchers scattered every which way across the Dune Sea. Mos Jarvus was just like scores of other settlements in this region of the planet, a handful of which were now under A’Sharad’s control. But Mos Jarvus distinguished itself from most others in one fundamental, absolutely vital way. Mos Jarvus had a spaceport.</p><p>           It wasn’t much to look at. It was a dusty, cracked tarmac, with dilapidated ships rusting around the edges and being slowly scavenged to their bones for spare parts. In the middle, perhaps a half-dozen light freighters, plus a control terminal that looked to be single-occupancy. But for A’Sharad’s purposes, it would be sufficient as a first step.</p><p>           The townspeople below had spotted them, now, and gathered warily as they searched for macrobinoculars and long guns.</p><p>           As’akk’erw’ll wasted no time. He lifted his arms and cried out, and across the ridge, the five-hundred-odd men in their raiding party all ran up and into view. They waved gaderffii and rifles, and put on a good demonstration for the town below. It worked, and A’Sharad watched carefully as the settlers ran off to guns they’d need and specific buildings they’d protect.</p><p>           Hate swelled within him, and much as he’d taken to doing since the Purge began, A’Sharad did not attempt to stifle it. He had known hate all his life, pushed it down, been a good Jedi and perhaps even a great one as a result. It had been his familiarity with the feeling that had allowed him to partition it off from his awareness. But now, the Jedi Council had fallen, and with it, A’Sharad’s belief in the infallibility of the Jedi way. He had tapped into the flow of hatred as he killed off his traitorous clones, and the wellspring had simply not gone dry on him. In fact, the more he accessed it, the more it seemed to provide. It felt…new, and different, and entirely superior to the Jedi approach. Once he had reconnected with his tribe, he had sunk into it, to better serve himself and to better serve his people in the coming days of strife.</p><p>           It was the way of the Tusken to support his clan, and to all charge headlong together into the biggest challenge one could find. For a true Tusken, to live or die by the result was an honor. His clan would charge with him, and Sidious was the greatest challenge. There were no Jedi anymore. It was only the two of them at opposite ends of a great Shah-Tezh board, and A’Sharad was beginning from a massive disadvantage. Pulling from his hate hardly mattered, in the face of such odds.</p><p>           As’akk’erw’ll waved hand signals, and as one, the Tuskens charged. Those who had rifles took potshots at farmers, and those who didn’t set to work breaking apart the town’s moisture evaporators and storage containers.</p><p>           A’Sharad walked among them, through the dead and dying among the farmers and through the battle-rage of his brethren. He fed upon it, and every miniscule volume brought him further from <em>Jedi</em> and <em>restraint</em> and <em>tranquility</em> and <em>shame</em>.</p><p>           He passed through Mos Jarvus and found himself relishing the screams, the children crying out to him in their fear. The children would be rounded up, as it was possible, and encouraged strongly to learn the ways of Tuskens. They understood they would die otherwise, of thirst, alone in the desert.</p><p>           He had tried to find survivors, in the Outer Rim. He had known the positions of other Jedi, known their hidden frequencies. He had found only silence. They had not been there, in A’Sharad’s time of greatest need. That, at least, had not been his fault.</p><p>           He advanced on the spaceport, and the way cleared for him. The more skilled and worldly of his men had sequestered the starships, locked them down. One of the townspeople was brave enough to come running at him, blaster pistol outstretched, and the man squeezed off several shots at him. A’Sharad waved his fingers to the left and right and swatted them away, and when he pinched his fingers together, the man rose from the ground and clutched at his throat. It wasn’t long until another of the Tuskens had clubbed him unconscious from behind.</p><p>           A’Sharad rounded the corner to the spaceport’s tarmac, and he stopped.</p><p>           He hadn’t noticed any change in the Force, until now, but as his eyes set upon the small, stooped figure in front of him, he felt everything else seem to muffle in an instant. The edges of his vision blurred, the periphery of his hearing cut out. His awareness centered in—no, it was sucked in—to the black hole at the tarmac’s center, at the Force’s center, at the Galaxy’s center. A’Sharad looked upon the figure and it seemed to grow nearer to him, and farther away, all at once, but it was immobile.</p><p>           The other Tuskens had taken notice. Elsewhere across the village, smoke had begun to rise, but here, the ones who saw the figure postured at it and waved their gaderffii. The figure was motionless.</p><p>           A’Sharad fought for control of himself and his perceptions in the Force, and he felt the grip around him loosen enough that he could regain his faculties. Instinctively, he stopped, and called both his sabers to his hands, although he ignited neither of them yet. He took his most well-worn stance.</p><p>           The Force rippled in the air several meters above their heads, and he picked up the faintest flutter of <em>amused</em> from the cloaked being. A thunderclap sounded from just overhead, loud enough that it rocked deep into A’Sharad’s chest. Glass broke all around.</p><p>           The being’s Force signature twitched again, and the sounds of monsters filled the air, roaring and screeches that drowned out the Tuskens’ collective voice. Again, something subtle changed, and the ground began to quake beneath their feet. The loose gravel upon the tarmac began to float, and slowly dispersed until the entire area was filled with floating stones that reminded A’Sharad of a starmap.</p><p>           The Tuskens were stepping back, now, clutching their clubs and rifles, and in such a display of elemental power, none of them dared to lash out. The figure glimmered with satisfaction. <em>Good</em>.</p><p>           A’Sharad probed outward, himself, toward the being. It was a great ball of decay and oil, in the Force, and as he pushed his own awareness toward it to explore it, he received one resounding answer in response. <em>SIDIOUS.</em></p><p>           So, then, the time had come earlier than A’Sharad had foreseen. Far earlier. Too early for him to be victorious.</p><p>           Under Tusken convention, if A’Sharad spoke to Sidious before gaining victory, his men stood a chance of thinking him weak, or trying to barter. But he would have to deal with that later.</p><p>           A’Sharad raised his head to Sidious. “Is this how you occupy your time, now?” he called out. “Now that you’ve brought the Galaxy to ruin? Am I the greatest threat that remains?”</p><p>           Sidious raised his head, and the lower half of his face poked out from beneath his hood. A’Sharad confirmed what he had already known, that it was Palpatine, standing across from him. He said nothing.</p><p>           A’Sharad respected it. That was the Tusken convention—no words spoken, if a duel was required. One simply positioned oneself to require attention of an opposing tribe’s leader, and if there were no request for surrender, then it was a duel to the death. A’Sharad knew that Sidious did not mean to win the Tuskens to his side, that went without saying, but he was appreciative of the gesture nonetheless. Perhaps Sidious did carry some small honor.</p><p>           A’Sharad ignited his sabers, and the Tuskens howled with delight and apprehension. Several of them struck up a chant, and drove the butt-ends of their gaderffii into the ground.</p><p>           Sidious’ own blade dropped down at his side. It was blood-red, and that shouldn’t have surprised A’Sharad, but it was somehow striking to see the symbol of his enemy before him, finally, after all these years.</p><p>           A’Sharad charged him, and Sidious raised his blade in time. A’Sharad slashed in quickly, wheeling his body from one side to the other and back again, and Sidious responded gracefully. He caught the end of each strike on the tip of his blade, just enough to redirect A’Sharad’s momentum, as he stepped back in retreat. Sidious dueled with one hand, and he was terribly precise with each movement.</p><p>           A’Sharad kept up his attack, twisting the blade in his left hand every so often to bat away the quick, biting counterattacks that lashed out his way. They were both measured swordsmen, that much was clear, and their footwork mirrored each other as they kept a clear and exact fighting distance. A’Sharad felt Sidious settling into the rhythm of it, and he seized the advantage.</p><p>           In a moment where he was supposed to give ground, in keeping with their pattern, A’Sharad instead threw his body around into a whipping kick. It caught Sidious off-guard, and although the Sith dodged with his head, he was unprotected in his center when A’Sharad switched grips on his offhand and stabbed inward.</p><p>           Another blade came to life, so quick A’Sharad couldn’t quite process the surprise of it, and parried his blow.</p><p>           Sidious snarled. But in the Force, something about his essence hummed with delight. <em>Good</em>.</p><p>           A’Sharad reset into his stance, and they each returned to the flow of the fight. Now, Sidious was beginning to make it clear that he was the better duelist, moving with a speed unparalleled and an exactness in his swings. A’Sharad began to find himself defending more than he had before, and soon enough, he realized he was defending more frequently than he was attacking at all. Under his helmet he gritted his teeth, and Sidious’ growing smile was not lost on him.</p><p>           Sidious began to leave his feet. He was darting around now, hitting from every angle, unleashing. A’Sharad was forced to step backward out of desperation, not calculation.</p><p>           Sidious’ boot snapped up, and caught him under the lip of his helmet. It lifted off his head, and was tossed halfway across the tarmac.</p><p>           Instinctively, A’Sharad buried his face in his elbow, but it was no good. His warriors roared and jeered at him. He had hoped Sidious would spare him that indignity, of showing the Tuskens A’Sharad’s flesh and thus irreparably destroying his memory, before he ended it.</p><p>           A’Sharad forced down his hurt, and he lifted his head, half expecting to see Sidious’ blade at his neck. But he was unmoved, no closer than he’d been when A’Sharad had gone stumbling back. He held his blades out by his sides, evenly.</p><p>           A’Sharad bared his teeth, and attacked again. Sidious went backwards at first, but before long he had turned the exchange. His strong-hand saber hummed, and sliced a ragged cut into the chest of A’Sharad’s robes. Sidious’ precision was such that A’Sharad’s skin was undamaged—but it was exposed.</p><p>           Now, Sidious stepped forward, and he raised the point of a saber to A’Sharad’s forehead. He still said nothing, but with the Force, he reached out and wrapped heavy weight around A’Sharad’s shoulders and onto his neck. A’Sharad hissed and strained, but he kept his eyes locked with Sidious’ golden ones, from where they shone under his hood.</p><p>           The Tuskens were screaming now, cheering, rejoicing. They knew not who they followed, in Sidious, but A’Sharad understood that such things didn’t matter. The strongest would rule, so long as they remained unsullied, and Sidious had taken care to glove his hands and cast illusions in the Force to prevent any of the Tuskens from perceiving his face.</p><p>           Sidious’ eyes glinted, and he put his other saber back onto his hip.</p><p>           “Now,” he said, and his voice growled and pulled from the depths of the Force. “They will pay for your foolishness.”</p><p>           A’Sharad blinked, confused, and he looked around. But he understood quickly. The celebration of the Tuskens had quickly gone quiet, and now they grunted and clawed at their throats. Their feet kicked at empty air beneath them.</p><p>           “For your blindness!”</p><p>           Sith lightning leapt from Sidious’ outstretched hand, and it leapt from one warrior to another until the entire horde was enveloped. A’Sharad’s breath caught in his throat, as he watched his brethren and his father’s people convulse and scream for their lives. Sidious grinned wide, and closed his eyes, and leaned his head far back, sinking deep within the gluttony of it. All the while, his strong hand held his blade steady, pointed at the center of A’Sharad’s forehead.</p><p>           Eventually, the lightning storm subsided, and as it left, the soft glow of each of the warriors in the Force was taken with it. A’Sharad and Sidious were alone, now.</p><p>           “Why?” A’Sharad hissed. “Why must you chase me here, and take more?”</p><p>           “I am curious.”</p><p>           Sidious waved his hand, and A’Sharad was blasted clean off his knees, into the flight tower. He fell to the ground, and reached out to call his sabers back to him, but before he could, Sidious was pulling him and hurling him back in the opposite direction. A’Sharad snarled and braced for the landing. He rolled to his feet, and dug his fingers onto the tarmac till he stopped sliding. He reached out with the Force and loosed a powerful push toward Sidious, but he felt as the wave split around him. Sidious grabbed his body again, and lifted him, and slammed him down once, twice, thrice.</p><p>           Sidious seemed to stand taller, now. He dropped one of A’Sharad’s lightsabers by his hand. “I will take from you everything.”</p><p>           A’Sharad took the saber. He was sunk into his frustration and his despair, now, and he lunged at Sidious. He was blasted back with lightning, and it followed and pressed him further into the ground until it pushed on his bones. He gritted his teeth and kept a tight hold on the saber.</p><p>           The lightning stopped. A’Sharad was back up to his feet, gnashing his teeth. He swung his saber in wide arcs once, twice, thrice, and Sidious dodged every time. A’Sharad leaned too far into his strike and Sidious’ crooked index finger was on his forehead for the briefest of moments, but in that time, A’Sharad felt a massive portion of his Force energy pulled from him and replaced with the same black tar that made up Sidious’ essence. It hurt, inside of him, and the pain mixed with his desperation and his rising fury.</p><p>           He flung out both of his hands, trying anything to exert some sort of Force influence on Sidious, but Sidious met him strength-for-strength and A’Sharad knocked himself back yet again. He reached out, closed his fist, tried to choke Sidious, but the Sith only laughed. He raised his own hand, and throttled A’Sharad.</p><p>           Then there was more lightning, too, and more of the strange influence that robbed A’Sharad’s senses from him. For too long, all that consumed him was simple, brutal, efficient pain, and he was brought fully awake within himself to feel it.</p><p>           Sidious released him. The mess of horrible emotions within A’Sharad could no longer come together to form wrath, and he sank to his knees. “Why won’t you die!” he yelled, and his voice echoed across the lifeless town. “Why won’t you die?”</p><p>           Sidious stood before him, still, as A’Sharad knelt at his feet. “The Darkness ensures my survival. It supplies me power that you did not dream of, as a Jedi. But you know that, now.”</p><p>           “I would have destroyed you, with more time.”<br/>           “You would have tried. Many have, and none have succeeded. You are no different.”</p><p>           Hett hissed.</p><p>           “Feel it inside you,” Sidious said. His voice was slick and oily, too. “Feel the rage. The ember burning. Make it larger.”</p><p>           “I will not turn before I die.”</p><p>           Sidious  shifted, in the Force, and he cackled. “No, A’Sharad Hett,” he said. “You will not die.”</p><p>           Lightning burst forth again, and Hett was consumed. This time, Sidious took him and did not let go, and all Hett knew of the time that went by was that by the time he came to his senses, the suns had shifted in the sky. All the rest of it was pain, and fear, and frustration. They brewed together into hatred.</p><p>           Sidious let him go, and A’Sharad’s chest heaved. “Kill me.”</p><p>           “You are powerful, Hett,” Sidious said. “You look upon me now with the eyes of a Sith. Your hatred guides you.”</p><p>           A’Sharad did not need to see his own face in order to know that it was true. He had given in. He had surrendered to the darkness, and it had taken him, now. He thought briefly of Master Mundi, old and blind and now dead too. Master Mundi had been unable to raise a finger to Sidious. No matter how complete A’Sharad’s failure now, the dark had at least allowed him to do more than that. And if A’Sharad was an ember of hatred, Sidious was a sun. They were of the same kind, now.</p><p>           Sidious glared down. “You will not die. You will find a new place, in the darkness. And you will have…a new army.”</p><p>           A’Sharad looked up at him, seething, questioning.</p><p>           Sidious lifted his gaze to the sky. A Venator hung in the lowest parts of space, staring down on them. “Take it,” Sidious said. “And the ten thousand men aboard. The Hutts have made clear that they seek a place at my side. Just as with you now, the Hutts will either secure that place, or they will know long lives of pain and misery after having denied it. But there can only be one.”</p><p>           A’Sharad snarled.</p><p>           “You will join me, at their expense.”</p><p>           A’Sharad understood that now, there was no point in refusing. He extended his hands outward to either side, and pulled his sabers back to his hands. Sidious let him.</p><p>           “Let your rage guide you, A’Sharad Hett,” said Sidious. “Your anger, your fear, your hatred and wretchedness. Lay waste to the Hutts. Lay waste to the home, and the beings, that maintain your shackles long after the Jedi have gone.”</p><p>           A’Sharad gritted his teeth. Sidious was wrong, surely, and yet he was right. The Tuskens, Tatooine…sentimentality, and a false sense of safety, had brought him there. A’Sharad Hett could not be safe, in the new Galaxy. He would need to become something more.</p><p>           The Force swelled forth around A’Sharad’s throat again, as Sidious’ anger and disdain rose from him once again. <em>YES, LORD SIDIOUS</em>, was forced upon him from every direction.</p><p>           A’Sharad clenched his jaw, and said it. “Yes, Lord Sidious.”</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p> The stormtroopers aboard Sidious’ Venator had known to salute A’Sharad when he stepped off the shuttle. They’d prepared a ceremony for him to board, rows of men on either side six deep and twenty long, with grey- and black-clad officers foremost among them. Every man stood in a perfect parade rest.</p><p>Two beings greeted him when he stepped off, hands clasped neatly behind their backs. One introduced herself as Rear Admiral Caviss Kyne, leader of the Emperor’s personal fleet, and the other as Commander Stryde, the clone leader of the army on board. They had fallen into stride behind him naturally, until he had assumed his place on the bridge, and then they went into motion effortlessly to complement his efforts.</p><p>A’Sharad had been directed to lay waste to Tatooine. A day ago, such a thing might have been unthinkable…but it was Sidious’ ultimatum. Sidious would take Tatooine as penalty for A’Sharad’s resistance, anyway, just before he took A’Sharad’s life.</p><p>A’Sharad had thought he’d made his peace with death. He had, as a Jedi. But now, so far removed from his old ties to the Light, he knew that the promised rebirth in the Force would not be his. Death terrified him, now, and if the price to avoid it was to oversee the death of Tatooine—which, of course, had been made inevitable no matter what, once Sidious stepped foot in her deserts—then he would pay it.</p><p>His first decree was to lead an attack personally on Mos Espa. He had created the attack as an instrument of fear, with the assistance of Admiral Kyne, who he found to be quite brilliantly creative. He had demanded that the Venator hang low over the city, and that clone gunships set down in every quarter. He had been on one of them, and led the massacre, as starfighters hunted down those who tried to escape into the desert.</p><p>He had unleashed himself, there. With his sabers he had set upon anyone who dared breathe in his line of sight, hacking and slashing with both hands until he found himself sated. There were few he had ever loathed more than the ‘civilized’ folk of Tatooine, slaving hypocrites as they were, and it had been delicious to truly let himself have his way with them.</p><p>When not a soul in the spaceport lived, and not a gram of flammable material had been left unburned, A’Sharad had stepped back aboard the bridge of his new flagship and directed it to Mos Eisley. This time, there was to be no great attack, no moment of triumph in the city streets. There was to be bombardment, from low orbit, until sand turned to glass and glass became molten.</p><p>In this way, A’Sharad knew, the Hutts would know he was coming long before he arrived. He had hoped for that. That prize…well, it was priceless, and he would claim it in his own way.</p><p>Now, he stood before Jabba’s palace. He had looked upon it before, from far away, scouting around, but he hadn’t ever been so close. They had offered no resistance to A’Sharad’s troop landings, so much so that on the broad, flat sands, he could set down an entire Acclamator and unload all ten thousand soldiers under his command. A’Sharad had considered doing that. But instead, he had opted for a different path.</p><p>Commander Stryke had selected twenty of his best men. Only twenty. And they had set down on the planet’s surface unopposed, in three gunships, led by A’Sharad himself. They marched in clear formation, four across and five back with A’Sharad at the head, open and available to be shot at in the sands.</p><p>The Hutts didn’t dare.</p><p>That taught A’Sharad two things. Firstly, it told him that the Hutts still believed they could barter. Whatever bartering power they held, though, he was entirely unaware, and he supposed that that was probably by design. Sidious had no interest in using him as a negotiator, not yet. This was a test of A’Sharad’s abilities, and willpower.</p><p>Secondly, it told A’Sharad that the Hutts were absolutely terrified of the hell A’Sharad could wreak upon them, in their vulnerable and unfortified state. A’Sharad resolved to demonstrate exactly how correct the Hutts were.</p><p>He came to the front gate, and ten men split off from either side. A little droid-eye sprung out from its hatch and attempted to interrogate A’Sharad in Huttese. He drew a saber, and chopped it off its mount.</p><p>He reached out with the Force to seize the gate. He did not attempt to manipulate the opening mechanism, but instead wrested the gate itself up from the ground, shoving it far past where it was built to go and relishing the loud cracks from the internal machinery.</p><p>The stormtroopers led the way, firing out and clearing several early adversaries. They breached paths down one hallway, and then another, until they came to the hatch A’Sharad knew opened to the stairway, which led in turn to Jabba’s throne room.</p><p>A’Sharad breached it with a mighty Force blast. Chunks of the door tumbled down the stairway to precede his arrival.</p><p>He stepped around the corners and ignited his sabers immediately, as the firefight began.</p><p>He had expected fierce resistance, and he found it. In the room he recognized the faces of two known bounty hunters, the clone Boba Fett and the Trandoshan, Bossk. A Kyuzo with a saucer hat fired a bowcaster his way, and near the back of the room, a Human wearing a thick turban opened fire as well. From his left, A’Sharad felt the unmistakable Force signature of Cad Bane, which was verified immediately with a volley of blasterfire. For a moment, with the storm coming from all of them and the twenty-some other hired thugs in the room, it was all A’Sharad could do to deflect and survive.</p><p>But then the stormtroopers began to emerge from the stairwell under his cover. They counteracted the stream of blaster bolts with a trickle of their own, then a steady flow, then a torrent. Non-combatants around the room were caught in the crossfire as Jabba objected loudly. Functionally immobile on his throne, the Hutt could only watch as his muscle was put to death.</p><p>To their credit, the bounty hunters put up a good fight. Cad Bane claimed no fewer than three of A’Sharad’s men, and the Human in the turban claimed two others. The Kyuzo used his saucer hat as a startlingly effective improvised weapon and drove A’Sharad into a prolonged engagement with his sabers, and he was even more surprised when a colorful alien woman joined in, using a truly unique chain-whip with great fluidity. For a moment, with the two of them holding A’Sharad at bay, the Huttese forces nearly gained an upper hand, and Bossk ran forward to savage a stormtrooper with claws and teeth. But then A’Sharad cut the Kyuzo across the leg, and left a permanent burn-scar on the other alien’s face, and they were forced to retreat. As one, the bounty hunters made a fluid tactical exit, with Jabba waving his fist and screaming profanities and betrayals in their wake.</p><p>The stormtroopers made to pursue the bounty hunters, but it was only a token effort, A’Sharad knew. They were masterless, and they would scatter to the wind when they inevitably survived. He let the men go after them, anyway. It did no harm.</p><p>Then, with two remaining troopers sweeping the throne room and plugging anything that moved full of blaster bolts, Jabba and A’Sharad were left alone.</p><p>A’Sharad relished the way the creature looked at him, eyes boggled and leaning away in fear. “What an honor it is,” A’Sharad said softly, “To be in the presence of the mighty Jabba the Hutt.”</p><p>Jabba gave him platitudes, in return, and promises to be a faithful servant of the Empire.</p><p>A’Sharad tilted his head, thinking to himself. He hardly heard a word Jabba said. There was something he wanted to try.</p><p>He raised a hand toward Jabba, fingertips outstretched. He pulled power from within himself and from the air around him. He summoned his rage, and his hatred, as Sidious had instructed, willing lightning to burst forth from his hand.</p><p>None came, and after a moment, A’Sharad chuckled. He gave Jabba his best wry, disappointed look. “I suppose I’ll have to go back to the old crone, after all,” he murmured. “Darth Sidious has many things to teach me.”</p><p>A’Sharad drew a saber from his belt. Before Jabba could do anything but gape at him, he ignited the blade, and threw it. It carved deep into Jabba’s body. He called it back to him, hooking it on his belt.</p><p>As the great worm convulsed and died before him, A’Sharad strode proudly out of the room. He had much yet left to do.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>Darth Sidious would need a proper throne room constructed, forthwith.</p><p>The Imperial Palace was under construction at the fastest speed his new Empire could muster. He could see it, from his wretched office window in the Senate building, where for now he was still forced to spend many of his days. His Empire would provide room for expansion, he would see to it, and he would make full use of the resources at his disposal to construct precisely the sort of citadels and palaces that befit the Sith’ari. For now, the Senate office would have to do.</p><p>Darth Moor did not accompany him anymore. She had more important things to do, putting down the more insulting rebellions that still existed on planets that would soon be brought to heel. Sidious had taught her to be ruthless, and he trusted that she would be. The girl could not hope to rival him in the Force, not yet, but she had his creativity. She was the closest to a daughter, an heir apparent, that he had ever known or would ever know.</p><p>Sidious was finished with the Rule of Two. Perhaps not permanently, bur certainly for now. It had failed him in his early days, when his first apprentice born and bred for war had been cleft apart by Kenobi, and then resurfaced only to fail Sidious further. It had failed him with Dooku, that insufferable wretch, with his absolute unwillingness to accept that there might be practical matters for him to learn, and his clearly obvious ceiling of power in the Force. And it had failed him thrice with Skywalker, that greatest of all embarrassments. If any of the beings whom Sidious had initially confided in around his hopes for Skywalker had been alive now, they’d have humiliated Sidious in his boldness to proclaim that Skywalker was his. The boy nearly had been, and he would be again, in time. But for now, the Rule would need to be discarded.</p><p>The Banite Line had thrived on the Rule, when they were in the shadows. Of course they had. There had been no responsibilities to uphold, no governments to prop up, no armies to lead. The Sith had been welcome to take apprentices at a leisurely pace, to shop the Galaxy until the perfect being was found or made. But the Rule’s insufficiencies had been made plain to Sidious during the Clone War, when despite the frequent inconveniences they posed, Sidious had found himself grateful to have Ventress and Grievous and even Maul and his pet running around the Galaxy and making trouble. Some situations simply called for a being that could act as conduit to the Force, and in a Galaxy with ten million or more known habitable worlds, one apprentice was rarely enough to address all that needed a Sith’s proper attention. The Banite mandate was an artifice of a different time, and Sidious, the Sith’ari himself, would not be bound by the traditions of inferior beings, no matter if Sith they were.</p><p>Darth Moor would not be Sidious’ only apprentice, now. A’Sharad Hett, if he was indeed Sidious’ newest pet, would not be the only other to join him. Sidious would cast far and wide for the weaker and the more pitiful Jedi cast-offs, yes, but he would maintain an eye for the powerful, and transform them into Sith of his own. Moreover, Sidious already desired something with which to fill the hours of his day no longer occupied by bill-signing, or by his own intricate machinations. Apprentices occupied time.</p><p>And the Jedi had done better to survive than Sidious had anticipated. Skywalker was among them, of course, but others were confirmed living, powerful Masters who stood to threaten his reign if they were to form a unified front. To have Sith who could meet them blow-for-blow, and defeat them, would be a great boon to Sidious’ continued efforts.</p><p>Hett would be arriving any moment now, his ship had been in the Coruscanti atmosphere for long enough. And indeed, as he thought it, Sidious felt the Force presence of the corrupted Jedi sweeping through the Senate halls toward him. He was quite powerful, for one so young, and the sort of powerful that grew greater with darkness, much like Sidious himself. With some, like Dooku or Plagueis, the Dark was a focusing influence, but not an accelerant. But Hett was not one of those individuals.</p><p>The door swept open, and Hett stood before him. Sidious said nothing, to see what Hett would do, and much to Sidious’ satisfaction, after a moment of hesitation Hett chose to kneel before him.</p><p>“I have razed the major cities of Tatooine,” said Hett. “Jabba and his minions have been destroyed. Tatooine, as I once knew it, is destroyed."</p><p>Sidious felt the Dark Side thrum. A’Sharad Hett clearly had no idea of the true nature of his task, but Sidious did, and he understood with a great deal of certainty that the way to Anakin Skywalker, even now, was sentimentality for that which the boy loved. Sidious had taken from Skywalker nearly everything; he would take the boy’s home planet, too, and see how many more things Skywalker could stand to lose before coming to beg his old benefactor for forgiveness.</p><p>Sidious smiled his rotten smile at Hett. “Rise,” he said.</p><p>The Dark Jedi stood. The tattoos on his face were flecked with blood, and Sidious admired the designs, pondering for a moment how he might add to them in the Sith tradition. Among the many things Hett did not know was that a unique suit of armor was being constructed for him, one that would hide his face when he needed it hidden, and that would strike fear into those souls who dared oppose the Empire. Darth Moor was to be Sidious’ knife, precise and efficient, and Hett would be Sidious’ hammer. Tall, imposing, muscled, he looked the part.</p><p>“I immersed myself in the Dark,” said Hett. “As you commanded. The Dark aided me in my task, and rewarded me in victory.”</p><p>“Through victory, my chains are broken,” Sidious mused, more to himself than to Hett. “The chains of Tatooine, you have broken, A’Sharad Hett. The chains of the Jedi, you have broken. The chains of your father,” Sidious said, taking the slightest moment to relish the rise and fall of Hett’s shame within him, “You have broken at long last. The Force has freed you. Take the next step, and know true power at my side.”</p><p>“I will…my Lord.”</p><p>“Kneel.”</p><p>Hett was hasty in doing so.</p><p>“I anoint you, A’Sharad Hett, a Dark Lord of the Sith, and I accept all claim to you as Master and as teacher. You have but one chain to break. Do you renounce your name, and your clan, in the name of the Sith and your new future?”</p><p>“I do, my Lord.”</p><p>“Then rise.”</p><p>Sidious’ new apprentice rose to his feet, and for the first and last time in the apprentice’s tutelage, he and Sidious looked each other directly in the eye, full and long.</p><p>Then Sidious broke the connection, and led his apprentice to the window that overlooked Coruscant. They walked along its edge.</p><p>“You will receive a Sith title,” said Sidious. “A mantle to call your own. Something to call back, and remind you of the bonds from which you have now been set free. Something of your homeworld. Tusken…Krayt….”</p><p>“It would be an honor to carry the mantle of Darth Krayt, my lord.”</p><p>Sidious kept everything about himself blank, unsearchable, but inside, he scoffed at his new apprentice’s tastes. “Yes,” he said out loud, “I suppose it would be. Then you are anointed, Darth Krayt, and your destiny is your own. May you find peace, in chaos.”</p><p>“Thank you, my Lord.”</p><p>“There is much for you to do. On Anaxes you will find your fleet, your armies, your new armor, and all that is required to construct or modify your sabers as you see fit. Go, now, and begin your campaign for our Empire.”</p><p>“Yes, my Lord. Your will be done.”</p><p>Darth Krayt bowed to Sidious, long and deep, and found his own way out.</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>Jaster couldn’t help but see Anakin’s hands tremble, as he listened to the report incoming from the Imperial transceiver. He couldn’t help but see how Padme squeezed onto the fabric of his robes to center him, or feel how Ahsoka and Obi-Wan both were sending him <em>calm </em>and <em>reassure</em> and <em>steady</em> through the Force. He couldn’t help but send Anakin those things, himself.</p><p>The intelligence report was about something that had happened on Tatooine. Whoever had created the briefing wasn’t discussing many details directly yet, but from what Jaster could tell, the message was clear. Tatooine had been “cleansed and made new, for the betterment of the Empire”. What Jaster knew that meant—and what Anakin clearly knew that meant—was that the Empire had destroyed everything on Tatooine they could touch.</p><p>It hadn’t taken Jaster long, after becoming Obi-Wan’s Padawan, to learn about Anakin’s unique history and his ties to Tatooine. Anakin himself had spoken freely, during the war, about his enduring desire to return and free millions of enslaved peoples on the world. His distaste for Tatooine, the hurt the planet had caused him…those were consistently on display. But Tatooine had been one of the rare subjects for Anakin where even the strongest resentment hadn’t seemed to overrule his desire to change things for the better.</p><p>But now there was this. Everything Anakin had known on Tatooine had, by all Imperial accounts, been turned to glass, and Anakin had been the first one to slam his hand and exclaim that of course, of <em>course</em>, the Empire had not discriminated between slaves and slavers.</p><p>What Jaster didn’t want to say was that the destruction of Tatooine was nearly certainly a message to Anakin himself. There was no tactical value to Tatooine, not by any stretch, and while the Empire probably did have some small interest in diminishing Hutt influence in the sector, that would have required nothing of this scale. It was a demented love letter from Sidious. Nothing more.</p><p>Obi-Wan was the first to speak. “We will not let this stand, Anakin,” he said softly. He rubbed his palm across Anakin’s shoulder and gripped him tightly. “We will not forget what he’s done to those people.”</p><p>Anakin breathed out a shaky breath. “We will make him pay.”</p><p>Rex frowned. “He’s baiting you. He must be. He wants to see how you’ll react. He wants you to come to him.”</p><p>“No.” Anakin hung his head when he said it, but he didn’t sound defeated. “No, I know better than that, now.” He turned to Jaster. “You talk about playing the long game. You really think we can do that and win?”</p><p>Jaster nodded. “I think it’s the only way to win.”</p><p> Ahsoka lifted her head, from where she’d still been listening intently to the intelligence broadcast. “There’s something else,” she said. “Sidious is making a statement about it. He’s broadcasting it now.”</p><p>Without a word, they all picked up their notes and shuffled back into the Ashla. As their eyes adjusted to the light, they gathered into the conference room. Yoda and Sabe had already beaten them there, and they were watching.</p><p>The Emperor stood from the pedestal at which he made all his addresses, with two vast Imperial banners draped down behind him and a mess of natural-born, Human military officers arrayed behind and around him. Sidious looked his usual—certainly not good, but as good as a Sith will tend to look. At his right side, standing behind him, was Darth Moor, silent and striking as ever. She had finally ditched the cylindrical gown she’d worn to Senate events, and chosen a more imposing hooded cloak, from which her pale skin and bright eyes were all the more striking.</p><p>But behind him on the other side was a new figure, and this one was almost certainly a Sith, too. No skin showed from under the mask and heavy bodysuit, and the being stood motionless, hands clasped neatly in front of him. The suit was built to be fearsome—a helmet with a ‘face’ of its own, with reddish goggles over the eyes and sloped back-and side-plating, with a triangular grille at the front that led down into the chest- and leg-plating. A cape swept around the suit and nearly enveloped it, but it was clear that if the cape were discarded, the suit would be more than capable of doing anything its wearer needed. The being wore twin lightsabers locked onto the front, one crossed over the other just above the belt-line.</p><p>“Who is that?” Rex muttered.</p><p>“Recognize it, I do not,” said Yoda.</p><p>“There’s nothing to recognize,” Ahsoka said. “Can we have audio?”</p><p>Sidious’ voice filled the room. <em>With the fall of a planet so depraved, so criminal, as Tatooine, the continued safety and prosperity of the citizens of our Empire has been ensured. And this victory—this conquest—would not have been possible, without the brave leadership of our Imperial Navy’s newest hero! </em>Sidious swept a hand dramatically toward the new figure behind him. <em>Darth…Krayt!</em></p><p>On cue, the Imperials around the platform stood and applauded. Darth Krayt, where he stood, bowed his head just barely enough to be seen. Otherwise, he remained motionless.</p><p>Sidious then launched into an overdramatic benediction for the success of Darth Krayt’s future efforts, and without anyone needing to ask, Sabe lowered the sound until it was only barely audible. With Sabe listening in for anything else important, all the others turned to each other.</p><p>“Darth Krayt,” Yoda said. His ears drooped. “A message, it is. To the son of Tatooine.”</p><p>Anakin darkened. “He wants me to see what I was supposed to be.”</p><p>“What he hopes to still make you,” said Obi-Wan.</p><p>“I said I wouldn’t go to challenge Palpatine,” said Anakin. “But Krayt is the one who did this.”</p><p>“He must be a fairly new apprentice, like Moor,” said Jaster. “Otherwise, Sidious would have used him during the Purge.”</p><p>“Then surely he won’t be strong enough-“</p><p>Obi-Wan raised a hand. “Anakin, the time will come to confront this new Sith, but we must do it on our terms. Not his.”</p><p>Jaster leaned forward over the table. “Could it be Maul? I know the chances are slim, but-“</p><p>“No,” Ahsoka said. “It’s not him. Maul was more afraid of Sidious’ plan than any of us, I don’t think there’s any way he would go back into his service. Not this fast, at least.”</p><p>Padme raised a finger for quiet, concentrating hard on something. “Anakin,” she said, hesitant. “You told me a long time ago about another Jedi from Tatooine, one of the Sand People. You said he fought with two lightsabers.”</p><p>“A’Sharad Hett,” Yoda said. “Son of Sharad Hett, he was. A strong Jedi, capable.”</p><p>“I didn’t know him well,” said Obi-Wan. “But by all accounts, he was exemplary.”</p><p>“I knew him,” said Anakin, and he looked over to Obi-Wan. “After the first time I’d thought you were dead, on Jabiim, before I was Knighted. He helped me then. I don’t believe he would have done this.”</p><p>Padme nodded. “I thought it was worth considering.”</p><p>“Unknown, the identity of Darth Krayt will have to remain, for now,” said Yoda. “If abandoned the Rule of Two, Darth Sidious has, then many more forces, he may rise against us.”</p><p>“In time, we may not be enough,” said Ahsoka. “Not if he keeps gathering new apprentices.”</p><p>Obi-Wan turned to Jaster. “You told us you wanted to focus on bringing people to our cause. More Jedi, as well as others. Although taking an opportunity to heal may have helped us, I fear that our time on this planet may be coming to an end."</p><p>Anakin nodded. “It’s a good home base, we could come back. But Obi-Wan is right. If we’re going to stand any chance, we need a resistance. We need a lot more than what we have.”</p><p>Ahsoka reached forward, and shut off the Emperor’s address. “I think I know where to start.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Thirty-Nine Days after Knightfall.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello again--thank you all for sticking with the story. I know the upload schedule has slowed down a lot recently, and between starting grad school and working on some IRL research pubs, I'm not sure if it'll pick back up anytime soon, but I still want to be churning out updates, even if they're a little less frequent.</p><p>One other note: hopefully it was clear in the reading, but Krayt's suit is basically a replica of the Vader suit model. Since he's got none of the crippling injuries Vader sustained on Mustafar, the suit probably looks more like this: https://comicvine.gamespot.com/forums/battles-7/darth-vader-with-the-new-upgraded-20-suit-vs-darth-2018231/. But the idea is there, nonetheless.</p><p>A complete roster of the bounty hunters we saw at Jabba's Palace:<br/>Boba Fett<br/>Embo<br/>Cad Bane<br/>Bossk<br/>Dengar<br/>Latts Razzi<br/>If you're not familiar with one or more of them...watch some TCW. It's really good, I promise.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Expedition</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Aaaaand just on the heel of me saying I won't have regular updates: A regular update. Let's see how long it lasts. </p><p>In which our crew confronts a logistical issue, and solves it, but not in the way they expected.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Forty-Two Days after Knightfall</em>
</p><p> </p><p>           Things aboard the <em>Ashla</em> had gotten a lot more interesting since Darth Krayt had made his introduction to the Galaxy, and for that alone, Anakin probably had to thank them. As much as he loathed whoever was under that mask for what they’d done to Tatooine, Anakin also couldn’t help but be just a bit curious. He had talked about it at length with Ahsoka—who it could be, what their intentions were, and how precisely they were or weren’t being groomed to take Anakin’s place. Ahsoka seemed to think that Sidious was just moving on without him, but Anakin knew different. He knew how much of a barb it was to name Sidious’ newest appendage after the most fearsome monster on Anakin’s planet, or to keep him proud and strong at Sidious’ side, a place Anakin had told Palpatine he was proud to stand, many times during the War. He caught the nuances of the design of Krayt’s suit, how it mirrored the armor of Sith warriors of old, but also of Tatooinian slave torture suits, designed to imprison the disobedient and slowly eat away at every inch of their bodies. Anakin hadn’t even told Palpatine about the torture suits. Sidious must have done his research.</p><p>           They were two separate people, to Anakin. Old, kindly Palpatine, who’d been hiding his true nature and laying a trail for Anakin to follow toward his doom, and Sidious, the doom waiting at the trail’s end. It was easier that way. Anakin knew it was unsustainable, but that didn’t much matter to him—he would merge the two in his mind when he was ready, and not before. It felt like asking a lot of himself, to make a clear representative in his mind for the cruelest slavemaster Anakin had ever known.</p><p>           Rex’s voice crackled in over the starfighter comms, and Anakin was shaken from his thoughts. “Coming out of Hyperspace in about a minute,” he said. “I’ll try to set down as close to civilization as I can.”</p><p>           “Roger,” said Sabe, from her place in the copilot’s seat.</p><p>           “Roger,” said Anakin, and he watched absentmindedly as stars curled away from him, from his vantage point in the starfighter’s rear.</p><p>           The starfighter, although it had served them, was the first problem their crew had agreed they would have to address. The thing was too small to transport any meaningful amount of supplies, and unless somebody wanted to sit on somebody’s lap, it could only fit three. Sabe had made a good argument, that a smuggler’s freighter was probably their best bet moving forward, and with a growing list of other supplies to purchase, they’d agreed that they would ditch the ARC-170 and come back in something more appropriate for the times. Anakin had gotten to come along on this one, mostly because he was the only Jedi who didn’t have a more important mission to run once they acquired a more inconspicuous ship.</p><p>           They dropped out of Hyperspace, in the immediate vicinity of yet another especially backwater world, Urtktk Minor. Nobody on the <em>Ashla</em> knew precisely how to pronounce Urtktk, and Ahsoka had been the first to suggest they just called it Urtie instead. Anakin was still reeling at how much Yoda had seemed to enjoy that nickname, and how many times he had repeated it; it was becoming more and more clear that the old Jedi Master’s slow descent into senility might have been helped along by the Purge, whether temporarily or permanently.</p><p>           Regardless, just doing <em>anything</em> at all had proved to be very necessary, and beneficial to everyone. During the War, each of them had learned to be a perpetual motion machine, and they fell back into those skills more easily than Anakin had thought they would. It was perhaps the best way, so far, to stop feeling the glare of the Empire on their backs.</p><p>           Rex flew them down into the lower atmosphere, and Anakin pulled on the gloves of his disguise. He wrapped a thick turban around his head, so that only a slit for his eyes was opened. Anakin was fully aware of his role as the Clone War’s poster boy, conveniently set up for him by Palpatine, and even so far out, people would be sure to know his face. Rex, too, hid behind a turban, but Sabe displayed her face openly, unassuming as she was in comparison.</p><p>           Rex’s voice came in again. “I’m going to ditch in one of the bogs. Get ready to climb out fast, it’ll be wet if you wait too long.”</p><p>           Rex hovered them down over a steaming, greenish bog, one of the thousands upon thousands that made up the planetary landscape. Anakin popped the overhead hatch and climbed onto the top of the starfighter, and calculated his jump to the closest sturdy-looking piece of land. It squelched under his boots, but mercifully, it held, and he turned back for Rex and Sabe. He reached out with the Force and floated them safely to land.</p><p>           Rex dusted himself off, as Sabe, despite everything, closed her eyes and hummed briefly with delight at the experience of levitation. Anakin chuckled softly.</p><p>           The sky was overcast with clouds that hung low, and Rex took a moment to get his bearings. He pointed off beyond a set of hills. “The outpost is there,” he said. “Shouldn’t be more than two hours’ walk.”</p><p>           “In this?” Sabe said, looking around at the maze of swampland and dry trails around them.</p><p>           “Hm.” Rex furrowed his brow. “Maybe three.”</p><p>           In reality, the walk took five hours standard, and by the end of it Anakin almost wished they’d been spotted or hunted down just to get a little excitement. But they hadn’t, and luckily they’d gotten off the bogs before what Rex explained was a daily flood, caused by the odd freshwater tides within the planet’s liquid core. The outpost finally showed up nestled between the hills, and they had no trouble getting inside.</p><p>           It was thickly settled, once within its walls, although it was clear that few, if any, of the area’s inhabitants lived outside that boundary. The Imperial presence was light, but certainly not nonexistent, and the first thing they did was walk casually by the military post within the settlement. It housed maybe two, three hundred soldiers—certainly not too big to escape, but big enough to cause problems.</p><p>           Rex led the way to the outpost’s trade hub, a network of tents that formed an outer ring around the civilian spaceport. He, Anakin, and Sabe each had a shopping list, and the first item on it was a repulsorcart on which they could truck around whatever else they acquired.</p><p>           Then they slowly weighed it down. Fresh and preserved foods took up a fairly large portion, plus a mess of civilian clothing to fit various sizes and species. A number of mechanical small parts, in case they were needed to fix anything up aboard the <em>Ashla</em>, plus a couple of blasters and vibroblades that caught their eye. After a while, when Rex and Anakin happened to be at the repulsorcart at the same time, Rex nodded Anakin toward the spaceport. Anakin nodded, and before long, he’d made it through the line to the port manager’s booth.</p><p>           “Urtktk Minor, Meira Settlement,” said the being behind the desk, an old, tired Aquilash who cupped his face with one hand. “Are you looking to dock or depart?”</p><p>           “Neither,” said Anakin. He put a bit of warp around his voice with the Force, so that he wouldn’t sound as much like himself. “I’m looking to buy.”</p><p>           “Not much for sale that isn’t already claimed,” said the Aquilash. “Demand is high, supply is low.”</p><p>           “Money is no object,” Anakin said. “I’m looking for a light freighter, ideally Corellian or Rendili in make-“</p><p>           Anakin felt a tug from the Force, toward his left side, and as if on cue, a Kubaz holding two armfuls of fruit came careening into Anakin. The Kubaz knocked him over with the force of their own trip, and as they both crashed to the ground, the being’s fruits scattered across the ground. They looked up at Anakin, both hands out, whistle-buzzing a fast and harried apology.</p><p>           “It’s all right,” said Anakin. “Really, it’s no problem. Here, let me help.”</p><p>           He got onto his hands and knees, and as the Aquilash watched, expressionless, he and the Kubaz collected up the fruits again.</p><p>           “Hey, wait! You’re that guy from the War!”</p><p>           Anakin froze. Too late, he realized that his turban was in disarray, fallen all around his face.</p><p>           He looked up, slowly, at a young Human boy staring and pointing at him.</p><p>           All around him, the crowd had fallen silent, and gotten very still.</p><p>           It didn’t last long.</p><p>           “That’s him! Skywalker!”</p><p>           “Anakin Skywalker? Here?”</p><p>           “I heard he liberated Ryloth!”</p><p>           “No, no, it was Kashyyyk!”</p><p>           “Wait, he’s the one they’re saying is a war criminal!”</p><p>           “Call the authorities!”</p><p>           In remarkable time, even compared to the other mass panics Anakin has witnessed across the galaxy, the entire crowd began to flee in complete disarray. The Kubaz was long gone, with most of the fruit left behind, and the Aquilash just remained in their booth, halfway to dozing and perfectly content.</p><p>           Anakin sighed, and raised his commlink to his lips. “We gotta go.”</p><p>           Before long, Rex and Sabe had come running. “You think we can take a ship?” said Rex, as Anakin hastily re-wrapped his turban. Around them, the crowd appeared to have forgotten what it was afraid of, and now people just ran every which way, screaming things like “Traitor!” and “Call the Empire!”</p><p>           “We can try,” Sabe said, and she drew her blaster. She began to lead them toward the civilian spaceport.</p><p>           “Wait.”</p><p>           That was a new voice, firm but friendly, and it came with <em>warm</em> and <em>trust</em> through the Force. They all looked together, at where a Zabrak woman leaned against a tentpole, arms crossed, dressed in colorful spacer gear.</p><p>           “I can give you a place to hide. Get you off-planet easier than that.”</p><p>           Rex narrowed his eyes. “I think we’re fine.”</p><p>           “No,” said Anakin, and he ignored the tired disbelief of Rex’s Force aura. “We’ll follow you. Thank you.”</p><p>           The Zabrak nodded. “Course. This way.” She ducked into an alley and took off at a quick trot, with the others following behind. In their wake, sirens began to become audible from a distance away.</p><p>           She guided them through a network of back-streets, pausing before each turn to ensure a lack of police presence. Before long, she’d arrived to a door leading down to what looked to be a ground-floor apartment, and led them inside.</p><p>           “They’re friends!” she yelled, before she even got inside. “They’re friends.”</p><p>           Anakin blinked and let his eyes adjust to the light. The apartment was simple, mostly bare except a couple of chairs and stools and a pile of boxes in one corner. There were others in the room, other spacers like the Zabrak, and they shared her affection for good gear and good color selection. A pair of Humans sat on a battered couch, and perhaps the friendliest-looking Trandoshan Anakin had ever seen was leaned up against the rear wall.</p><p>           Next to Anakin, Sabe smiled just a little bit.</p><p>           “Close the door,” said the Zabrak. “We’ll be safe here, for a while. Get comfortable. We can lay low.”</p><p>           “Thank you,” said Anakin. He sat down on one of the stools. “I don’t know what we did to deserve your kindness, but I appreciate it.”</p><p>           “Any enemy of the Empire is a friend of ours,” the Zabrak said. “But especially you.”</p><p>           Anakin waited for her to say what she meant.</p><p>           “You’re Skywalker, right?” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “The war hero. You can take the head-wraps off, nobody here’s looking to hurt you or turn you over to the authorities.”</p><p>           Anakin hesitated, but the Force called to him. It sent him <em>safe</em>. He listened, and his turban came off.</p><p>           “And you,” the Zabrak said. She peered through the slit in Rex’s own gear, at his eyes. “You’re a clone, you must be.”</p><p>           Begrudgingly, Rex showed his face, too.</p><p>           “I’m Crix,” the Zabrak said. She nodded to the male Human. “That’s Darius.” And then the female Human: “Keba.” Then the Trandoshan: “Gnossh.”</p><p>           “I’m Anakin Skywalker. Good to meet you all.”</p><p>           Rex shifted, and cleared his throat. “Thank you for saving us. I’m, ah…Fives. They call me Fives.”</p><p>           “I’m Corde,” Sabe said. She and Anakin shared a quick look, and nearly imperceptibly, he nodded assent.</p><p>           “What are you doing all the way out here?”</p><p>           “We were picking up supplies, before we moved on,” said Anakin. “We don’t stay anywhere for long anymore.”</p><p>           “Heard you say you wanted to steal a ship. We can solve a transport issue, if you’re having one.”</p><p>           Rex leaned forward. “What are you?”</p><p>           One of the humans, Keba, leaned forward. “We’re smugglers,” she said. “We move cargo for whoever asks, just about. Trying to wait the Empire out a little bit, till they stop checking every ship at every port.”</p><p>           “We used to do a lot of runs for the Republic,” said Crix. “Under-the-table stuff, non-weapons deliveries for indigenous groups resisting the Separatists. But we’re pretty sure our names are on some list somewhere, because of it.”</p><p>           “Probably,” Anakin nodded.</p><p>           The Trandoshan heaved himself off the wall, and came to sit cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the Humans’ legs. “You’ve all been on the run together, then?” he said.</p><p>           “Yes, ah…”</p><p>           “Gnossh.”</p><p>           “Right. Yeah, we all met up getting off Coruscant and we haven’t split up since.”</p><p>           Crix nodded, slowly. “You’re really him. You’re really Anakin Skywalker, sitting in our apartment.”</p><p>           “Yeah. Probably not as glamorous as you expected, right?”</p><p>           “What are you doing now? Can we help?”</p><p>           Sabe put a hand on Anakin’s knee. “We really can’t say, I’m sorry-“</p><p>           “No, no, that’s fine! We get it. But…if there was a place for us to help. You know.”</p><p>           “I appreciate it.”</p><p>           “We’re good with blasters, and we’ve got a ship of our own! The <em>Herald Vixen</em>, Keba flies her,” said Gnossh. “She’s Corellian. She’s not pretty, but she’s tough.”</p><p>           “She’s got a pretty name,” Anakin said, with a little grin that made Keba blush when he looked at her.</p><p>           “Thank you,” Keba said softly. Gnossh looked up at her and waggled his tongue just a bit.</p><p>           “We’ve been hoping we would find a Jedi one day,” said Crix, after a moment. “We never expected it would be you.”</p><p>           Anakin frowned, and tilted his head. “A Jedi? Why’s that?”</p><p>           Crix and the others got quiet, and they all looked over at the Human male, Darius. Darius glowered back at all of them. “I don’t want to get into it,” he snapped.</p><p>           “Come on, Darius. Now’s your chance.”</p><p>           “It’s now or never,” Gnossh said, taking a tone with the sort of empathy Anakin had truly never expected to hear from a Trandoshan. “Come on. If you don’t tell him, I will.”</p><p>           Darius sat quiet, clearly fuming about something or another.</p><p>           Anakin noticed Rex’s leg bobbing up and down. He leaned over. “You can watch out the window, if you want.”</p><p>           “Thank you.” Rex got up and found his spot, peeking out past the window’s heavy curtain.</p><p>           Gnossh took a long, hissing breath, and addressed Anakin directly. “Look, I know it’s not why you’re here, but…Darius can make things float.”</p><p>           “What do you mean?”</p><p>           Without warning, Crix reached down and picked up a ball from the floor. She tossed it at Darius’ head, and from where before Anakin had felt no abnormality in the Force, he now felt a surge to action. The ball paused in midair and started circling Darius’ head, slowly, as he glared into the opposite wall.</p><p>           “Did it since I was a kid,” Darius forced out. “Karking thing was going to be the death of me anyway, even before the Empire. It’s the Force, isn’t it?”</p><p>           Anakin frowned. “Yes, it is.”</p><p>           “Parents kicked me out because of it. Said I was causing too much trouble.”</p><p>           “You weren’t found by a Jedi.”</p><p>           “Jedi don’t come this far out, not before you did. And I grew up somewhere just like this.”</p><p>           Gnossh leaned forward. “Darius has had to do a lot of things, to keep himself from using it. From hurting us, without meaning to. Or having other accidents.”</p><p>           “That’s all it’s ever been good for, is accidents,” said Darius. “Accidents and making enemies. These are the only people who haven’t turned on me because of it.”</p><p>           Keba rolled her eyes. “Well, when you use it to steal my food-“</p><p>           Anakin smiled softly. “Can I ask you something, Darius?”</p><p>           “Why not.”</p><p>           “What do you use to keep it under control?”</p><p>           Darius shifted uncomfortably. This time, Gnossh didn’t press him to answer.</p><p>           “I know for a Force-user, especially an untrained one, there are usually three main outlets,” said Anakin. “The first one, honestly, is to find some way to die, and that can be hard for us when the Force takes measures to actively prevent us, even outside our control. The second is releasing yourself into it, letting it control you, and that usually ends even worse. The third one is spice.”</p><p>           Darius looked down into his lap.</p><p>           “If it’s any consolation,” said Anakin, “I would’ve been right where you are, if the Jedi hadn’t found me when they did. Spice hurts, but it’s the best option out there for people like us.”</p><p>           Gnossh spoke up again. “We hoped that during the War, we’d cross paths with a Jedi. Maybe they could teach Darius how to control it.”</p><p>           “Would you want that, Darius?”</p><p>           “Of course,” he said. “All it ever does is drive me out of my mind, slowly. If I could turn it off, I would.”</p><p>           Anakin nodded. “I don’t think you can shut it off, but I can certainly help it seem clearer.”</p><p>           “You’d be the first,” Darius said. “Once or twice in my life, the best times, it’s been clear as anything…but most of the time, I can’t make sense of it, no matter what it does. There’s too many signals and they get messed around in each other. I know the Light Side and the Dark Side, but most of the time it feels as if I’m on the Static Side.”</p><p>           Anakin pursed his lips and thought to himself. He racked his brain, trying to remember the words Obi-Wan had given him, when Ahsoka had asked the same thing just weeks into her Padawanship. Darius still was clearly frustrated, but Gnossh and Keba and Crix waited patiently, eagerly, until he finally spoke.</p><p>           “Put it this way. The Force doesn’t only flow along one axis. It moves along two axes at once: the Light and the Dark, yes, but also the Living, and the Cosmic. We could lose ourselves for days in the details of what that means, but think of it like this…when the Force feels warm, and comforting, like it wraps around you, that’s the Light Side of the Living Force. It’s present, it’s in the moment. That’s what comes most naturally to me. At other times, the Force feels bright and boundless and as if your awareness could stretch on forever…that’s the Light Side of the Cosmic Force. Do you know the feelings I mean?”</p><p>           Darius’ entire body had changed, as Anakin had explained it. The hollowness had lifted from his eyes, enough for Anakin to see it. Darius  nodded his head fast, eyes wide. His essence in the Force seemed to bubble with hope, and relief.</p><p>           “At times, the Force can feel hot, angry, boiling…that’s the Dark Side of the Living Force. It’s driven by feelings that move outside of our control, no matter what they are. And at other times, I’m sure you’ve felt when the Force feels cold. Hollow. That’s the Dark Side of the Cosmic Force, that chills a Jedi to his bones and seeks to sap our essence out into the void.”</p><p>           By the look in his eyes, Darius understood fully. Around him, the others watched his face, trying to work through the meaning of Anakin’s words in their own heads.</p><p>           “The Force travels freely between these axes, and it influences us far more than we could ever influence it. And between the four polarities, there are so many combinations of pull and push, Light and Dark, that it can be difficult to hold them all straight, even for a trained Jedi. Many novice Force-users cope through…other means. But if you return with us, I can help you. I’m a trained mind-healer, like most Jedi are, and while I’m not an expert, I know enough to help you settle.”</p><p>           Darius had tears brimming in his eyes now. Seemingly without knowing it, he ran his fingers over the scars and the bruises on his arms, and his fingers trembled just a bit. “I won’t need the spice?”</p><p>           “No. No, Darius, you won’t need the spice. We can build you shields to keep your mind truly safe, rather than just distracted from the turmoil.”</p><p>           “I’d like that.”</p><p>           Rex stepped away from the window, and drew the curtain back over it. “Good,” he said, and he fixed the smugglers with a hard look. “You offered earlier to give us a lift out of here. If you’re still going to do it, now is the time.”</p><p>           As the smugglers took a moment and gathered themselves, the sounds of sirens and stomping boots rang out from not far away. Rex peeked out the window again. “Here they come,” he said. He looked over to Sabe. “Will you go and scout around? I’m sure they don’t know your face yet.”</p><p>           “Yes, of course,” said Sabe. She stepped out. The smugglers shared a look, but they stayed silent. They fell into motion around the apartment, packing knapsacks and producing blasters. Anakin liked that. They were getting ready to run, even without it being asked of them.</p><p>           The sounds of blasterfire echoed from a block or two away, and before long, Rex had caught sight of Sabe. “Here she comes,” he said, and in one fluid motion he stepped behind the door, opened it just long enough for Sabe to get inside, and swung it shut again.</p><p>           Sabe was wounded, with a graze to one of her calves, but she was very brightly aware and would be more than ready to fight, if her Force signature was any indication.</p><p>           “How many?” said Anakin.”</p><p>           “Two dozen, give or take.”</p><p>           He nodded, and turned to the smugglers. “We still have time to leave through the back way. They’ll never know you helped us. But we need to know your decision, now.”</p><p>           Darius stood up, and with a look of peace on his face Anakin guessed he hadn’t had in quite some time, he lifted a hand. His blaster pistol came flying into his grip, and he spun it on his finger. “I’m coming with you.”</p><p>           “Count me in.”</p><p>           “And me.”</p><p>           “Me too.”</p><p>           Anakin grinned. “Alright. Then let’s get moving.”</p><p>           Sabe pulled her hood up over her head. “On me. Crix, you’re guiding the way. Rex, hold the rear.”</p><p>           “There’s a back door. Follow me.”</p><p>           Keba looked furtively over at Anakin, as she drifted Rex’s way to help protect their backs. “You’re not going to use your lightsaber?”</p><p>           “It’s down here,” Anakin said, lifting his boot. “I’ll take it out if we need it, but this—” He shook his blaster pistol, one of the small Nabooian ones Padme had given him— “It’ll pack enough of a punch.”</p><p>           Sabe led the way through the back of the apartment, out into a little alleyway. Their group moved to the end of that one, then through another, and another, pausing along the walls each time until Sabe peeked her head around the corner. Crix and Gnossh hugged in tightly behind her, and Rex and Keba trailed just a few steps behind the rest. Next to Anakin, Darius was laser-focused, but he could feel the man’s Force signature spinning nearly out of control.</p><p>           “What’s wrong?” Anakin murmured.</p><p>           “I’m so high.”</p><p>           “Right now?”</p><p>           “Most of the time. Keeps the Force quiet.”</p><p>           Sabe leaned her head around the next corner, and was greeted by a sharp “Hey!”, in a voice Anakin had heard many thousands of times. She ducked back under cover, as a blaster bolt whistled past her head. Sabe took her opportunity just after, stepping out with authority and firing two shots of her own. She turned to the group. “Come on.”</p><p>           Now, the stormtroopers all around knew where they were, and the journey through the maze of back alleys grew progressively more difficult. Sabe and Crix did a good job of clearing corners, and Gnossh, whenever he got an opportunity, would drop his heavy blaster rifle to wrestle and choke troopers unconscious instead. Sabe shot him a hard look. “I don’t want that on my conscience!” he hissed, and she shook her head, but accepted it.</p><p>           All the while, they grew closer and closer to the civilian spaceport.</p><p>           “Did we bring the smoke bombs?” Crix snapped, as she and Sabe ducked out of the way of a hail of blasterfire from a larger squadron.</p><p>           “Yeah!” said Darius. He nudged Anakin and they both ran forward, Anakin drawing fire from the stormtroopers as Darius lit a little white cube and tossed it at their feet. They got out of view and counted to three, and then the entire group moved through the cloud, shooting and grappling troopers as they went.</p><p>           “Over there! Side door!” Crix yelled, and pointed them toward a service hatch leading into the spaceport. She dived behind cover as a new squadron of soldiers rounded the corner toward them. In their wake, even more were coming, and Rex and Keba were forced to find cover of their own and hold them off.</p><p>           Sabe tried the door, but couldn’t wrench it open. “Gnossh!” she yelled, and the Trandoshan swapped places with her. He pulled as hard as he could, grunting and hissing and trying to ignore the firefight, with one foot wedged up onto the wall.</p><p>           “I can’t!” he said finally, and he went back to his place in the battle.</p><p>           Crix looked over at Anakin, where he crouched behind a pile of durasteel crates. “Your lightsaber!”</p><p>           “We can’t get through another way?”</p><p>           Beside Anakin, Darius swore and threw down his blaster. “I’ll do it,” he snapped. “They don’t know my face like they know his.”</p><p>           “You haven’t used a lightsaber!” said Anakin.</p><p>           “I don’t need one.”</p><p>           Darius stood up, and breathed deeply. Something changed in his face, and he threw both arms outward with a shout, casting a powerful Force blast toward the stormtroopers advancing on them. The soldiers went flying, thrown hard against the wall with perhaps enough force to crush bones, depending on the hardiness of their armor. Darius spun on his heel and clawed one hand, eyes closed, concentrating so hard sweat beaded on his brow. The Force thickened with the same sort of hot, Grey energy Anakin had come to expect from untrained users. Darius was deeply connected to it, clearly. The door began to make awful sounds of twisting metal. Slowly, he crushed it down until it broke from its hinges and fell to the ground.</p><p>           “Come on!” he said. He was the first one through the door, shooting at stormtroopers and spaceport security, and the rest of the group followed fast.</p><p>           Darius led them to one particular light freighter, tucked away in the corner, clearly Corellian in design and well-worn. “This is her,” he said. “The <em>Herald Vixen</em>.”</p><p>           Crix ran past him and toggled the ramp to come down. “Come on! Keba, get us moving.”</p><p>           They gathered in a half-circle around the ramp as Keba rushed inside. All the rest of them stood there shooting, flowing between stormtroopers, as the hangar began to be overrun. Troopers appeared from every door around them, and the balconies, and the rooftops. Sabe and Rex were, by far, the most experienced and talented shots, and Anakin kept up through use of the Force, but the spacers did well in holding their own. The ship’s engines roared to life behind them.</p><p>           “Gnossh! Darius! On the guns!” Crix yelled. At her command, the two of them retreated inside. “Clone! Go” Rex nodded, and walked in backward, shooting as long as he could. “Now you!” she said, pointing to Sabe as the three of them got closer to the ramp. “Cover me, Jedi,” Crix finally said, and she, too, turned and went inside. Anakin found his own time back, and the ramp began to close as soon as he stepped onto it.</p><p>           Anakin felt the ship lift from the ground and begin to fly out. He took a moment to take in their surroundings—the <em>Herald Vixen</em> was beautifully decorated, with painted walls and colorful tapestries draped about. He looked over at Crix. “I’m the last one out, huh?”</p><p>           “You’re a Jedi,” she said. She grinned at him as she caught her ragged breath. “Blasters don’t work on you.”</p><p>           Anakin laughed at that, the first real laugh he’d had since the end of the War. “Sure,” he said. They got to their feet, and ran to the cockpit to join all the others.</p><p>           Keba was taking them up through the atmosphere. Rex had taken the copilot’s seat, but he moved graciously to make room for Crix. Anakin felt the reverb of the guns from above and below, shooting at however many pursuers they had. Darius’ Force signature pulsed bright, in a way Anakin was sure meant he’d scored a kill. Before them, the sky turned from blue to deep purple to black, and slowly the Galaxy became visible. Keba leaned hard on the Hyperdrive ignition, and they were gone.</p><p>           All of them waited for a long moment, catching their breath. Before long, Darius and Gnossh rejoined the group in the cockpit. Everyone looked around at everyone else, exhilarated despite the extreme gravity of all that had just happened.</p><p>           Sabe was the first to speak. “Three microjumps,” she said. “Then we’re clear.”</p><p>           Rex looked around at the smugglers. “This is your home, clearly. Your family. There’s still time to drop us off somewhere, go back to walking your own path. If you choose to.”</p><p>           The smugglers all shared a glance, and Crix shook her head. “No. Wherever you all are going, consider us along for the ride.”</p><p>           Rex nodded. “Then it’s an honor to have you on board.” He leaned down to discuss rendezvous coordinates with Keba.</p><p>           Gnossh, face alight with glee, bounded off toward the rest of the ship, calling his new guests behind him to show off his home.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Forty-Three Days after Knightfall.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you enjoyed! This was originally going to be 1/3 of the chapter, combined with what you'll see in the next one. But it became its own thing, and I'm rolling with it. So there. ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Contacts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In which a pair of very important visits takes place.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 15: Contacts</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Forty-Five Days after Knightfall</em>
</p><p>Acquisitions:</p><p>4 smugglers, and the <em>Herald Vixen</em>, Corellian light freighter.</p><p> </p><p>           Jaster quite liked the new members of the crew.</p><p>           Of course, they’d been quite the surprise when they popped out of Hyperspace and docked with the <em>Ashla</em>—both Obi-Wan and Jaster had been at the airlock, sabers ready, just in case this new unrecognized ship was a problem. But the second Jaster had caught sight of Gnossh’s grin, he’d known there was nothing to fear.</p><p>           It had been like meeting civilians before the War, from what Jaster remembered. The wonder in their eyes, the hesitancy in their questions blending with true enthusiasm. Crix and Keba had been more restrained, and Darius seemed more scared than anything else, but they all warmed to each other very quickly and soon, none of that mattered anymore.</p><p>           Then they’d met Yoda. They’d gaped and staggered, clearly barely able to accept that the little green hero they’d heard about in legend was sitting before them, playing with a pair of babies as if there were nothing better to do. Yoda had turned his attention straight to Darius, and before long everyone else had been excused, so the two of them might meditate and begin to heal the young man’s mind. Darius had come out of that session feeling vastly less weighed down in the Force, and with the first bits of a tangible mental shield in place. Jaster felt happy for him.</p><p>           Days later, on the way to his next mission, Jaster sat in the common room of the <em>Herald Vixen</em>. He’d gotten a tour of everything—the cockpit, the bunks, the refresher, the cargo holds. He was impressed by the secret compartments and the many modifications, all Keba’s doing. And, of course, the art, which was the work of Gnossh.</p><p>           Jaster quite liked Keba, from what he knew so far. He liked them all, but…he quite liked Keba.</p><p>           Now, Jaster stood on the lip of the exit ramp, waiting as the ship slowed and settled down onto solid ground. The pressure locks hissed, and he was carried down with it, and with a large crate suspended on repulsors beside him.</p><p>           He was on Kashyyyk, one of several dozen ships in the visitors’ docking area at the largest Wookiee resistance base that still existed. The area swarmed with activity, dozens of Wookiees just in Jaster’s line of sight, and he knew the camp likely stretched for kilometers up and through the trees.</p><p>           For all intents and purposes, Jaster was a smuggler. He’d borrowed bits and pieces from each of the <em>Vixen</em> crew, and cobbled together something that made him look some degree of believable. One of the advantages of having joined up with Anakin and Obi-Wan so late into the war was that Jaster’s face was relatively unknown, and even better, he was reptilian, with features non-reptilians had a difficult time picking out from others of his species. He, unlike any of the other Jedi, could walk around with his face displayed. It was refreshing.</p><p>           Jaster pushed the crate with his fingertips, and brought it to move steadily at his side. He, like all the other smugglers and blockade runners around him, formed into a clear line for entrance to the camp, and he looked around absentmindedly until it was his turn. The <em>Vixen </em>crew had been told to stay on the ship, although they’d certainly asked to come along, and with nobody to talk to, Jaster was left rocking back on his heels and counting seconds until the Wookiees doing check-ins were ready for him.</p><p>           They had translator droids on their belts, something Jaster greatly appreciated. They muttered to the droids softly, and the droids were there for Jaster to converse with. He addressed the Wookiees directly, though, lest they be offended.</p><p>           “I bring supplies to aid your people,” said Jaster. “Food from my home planet, although it must be kept cool, or it will spoil.”</p><p>           “What is the purpose of this delivery?” the droid asked.</p><p>           Jaster gave the Wookiees an easy smile. “The organic matter is so dense, it’ll prevent sensors from detecting anything in the central compartment. The box will keep it cold enough as long as you don’t leave the thing open for too long.”</p><p>           The droid’s eyes blinked twice. “You expect us to admit you to our base without inspecting your cargo.”</p><p>           Jaster nodded, and he looked up at the largest Wookiee. “You know, you guys asked me that the last time I was here, too. I’m supposed to give this to you. It cleared things up before.” He reached into his back pocket and handed the Wookiee a piece of flimsi. Yoda had given it to him, with some sort of old code spelled out onto it.</p><p>           The Wookiee examined it, and grunted in confusion. “What is this?” said the droid.</p><p>           “I don’t know, really,” said Jaster. “I was told someone here would know.”</p><p>           “Wait here a moment.”</p><p>           The Wookiee turned and flagged down one of his associates, who wore some of the trappings and ornamentation that suggested a higher rank. The two conversed over the paper for a moment, and the Wookiee Jaster had been dealing with returned. “You may enter,” said the droid. “Do you know where you are going?”</p><p>           “I do. Thank you.”</p><p>           Jaster stepped past them, muttering thanks, and began to walk into the camp. He did not, in fact, have the first idea where he was going, but he did know that he was supposed to locate the Wookiee command tent, and from experience he knew that that generally just meant walking toward the center of any wartime encampment.</p><p>           The box’s repulsors hummed at his side, and he tried his best to keep the thing steady. As he walked, he ignored the suspicious looks from Wookiee fighters, and tried not to stare too hard at the significant, fresh war wounds many of them carried. As expected, clearly the Empire was an unkind enemy.</p><p>           Jaster only had to walk a few hundred meters to find the command tent. It was relatively lightly guarded, with two warriors at the front flap, and when Jaster walked around to scout the back, that was even better. Only one stood blocking the way. Jaster looked away from the command tent, at the little lean-to that had been set up beside it using crude piping and clearly surplus fabric. Jaster knelt down as if he were adjusting his boot, and he flicked with his fingers in the Force. The little structure came toppling down as if from the wind, and the Wookiee guard reacted immediately to go fix it.</p><p>           Jaster took advantage of the opening, and quietly, he snuck by with the box.</p><p>           Immediately, though, he was confronted by the realization he’d just stepped into a tent with two dozen of the best Wookiee fighters there could be, and they were deeply, deeply unhappy about it. For the first half-second, they all froze. They stared at Jaster, and Jaster tried not to make eye contact.</p><p>           The half-second passed, and the eerie quiet of the room turned into very displeased bellows and roars. But by then, with all the speed of someone trying to save his own neck, Jaster had popped the lock on the box out and let it fly open. Yoda jumped out onto the table, very much alive, and the mood shifted from wrath to pure celebration.</p><p>           Jaster was entirely forgotten, as the Wookiees cheered hard for Yoda’s survival. They rejoiced in their language, and took turns reaching down to embrace him, and a few of the older ones even danced in their joy. Jaster watched the whole thing, bemused, as Yoda took his own time to join them in celebration.</p><p>           He lifted a hand, after a moment, and pulled the Wookiees’ attention back to him. “Listen, my friends! Listen, you must! Short, my time will be here, and much we have to discuss!”</p><p>           The cheering and stomping grew quieter, and then died out. A Wookiee next to Jaster grabbed his shoulder and embraced the younger Jedi with one arm, grunting something that seemed positive into his ear. Jaster chuckled and voiced his appreciation.</p><p>           “Tarfful,” Yoda said softly. He shared a long look with the biggest Wookiee in the room, their chieftain. “Well, are you?”</p><p>           Tarfful gave Yoda his response.</p><p>           “Sorry to hear that, I am. Lost much, we all have, and remembered well, your sisters and brother will be. Give everything, they did, for Kashyyyk.”</p><p>           Tarfful said something else, presumably asking Yoda the same question.</p><p>           “Hmm. Recovering, I am, slowly. With the help of this Jedi,” said Yoda. He pointed his gnarled hand toward Jaster. “A Jedi Knight, my friend is. Young Jaster Vigil, he is. A promising young Jedi, indeed.”</p><p>           “I thank you for your hospitality,” said Jaster. “And for not ripping my arms off, when I came in.” There were a few good-natured grunts from the Wookiees, and he smiled back at them.</p><p>           Yoda looked back at Tarfful. “What of Chewbacca? Loshryyyk? Wochwaach? Your lieutenants…here, they are not. With you, they belong.”</p><p>           Tarfful bowed his head and muttered something sadly.</p><p>           “Hmm. A difficult blow, that is. Rescue them, we will one day soon, and free them of their chains. But much to do, we have. Much to do.”</p><p>           Tarfful nodded to his men and they got comfortable. Jaster did the same, sitting up onto the box he’d brought.</p><p>           “Secrecy, I need from you all,” Yoda said. He stared around the circle and waved his gimer stick for emphasis, looking each of the Wookiees in the eye. “Confidence, I rely on.”</p><p>           One of the younger ones made his agreement clear, and did so loudly. Several others showed their support, as well.</p><p>           “More of us, there are,” Yoda said. “On a ship, in deep space. Waiting, we are. Planning, we are, to make ready and resist the Empire. Several Jedi, we have found, already. More, we will find, in time.”</p><p>           Jaster spoke up as well. “We thank you for helping Master Yoda appear as if he were among the dead. There are few peoples we trust fully right now, but the Wookiees…we trust that you loathe the Empire as much as we do.”</p><p>           That got Jaster a very noisy rally of agreement.</p><p>           “Your support, we need,” Yoda said. “Not in material. Not now. But faith, we must have, that when we need the support of the Wookiee peoples, find it, we will.”</p><p>           Tarfful said something back.</p><p>           “Know, I do. Thankful, I am. But your benefit! Look out for that, we will, too. Support, we will give, whenever available, to your efforts on Kashyyyk and beyond. Help to raise each other, we must.”</p><p>           Jaster spoke again, and this time he stood up, walking slowly around the table. “We will do our best to arrange regular supply and munitions runs, and when there is an opportunity to grow our ranks, we will come first to the Wookiees to find those who wish to strike back.”</p><p>           Tarfful turned to him, fully. He reached into a satchel and pulled out a translator droid. Turning it on, he roared into it. “The great Tarfful agrees to your terms, and thanks you for seeing the Wookiee Peoples as equal in your effort,” said the droid. “As a show of support, I offer you the three most skilled warriors of my personal bodyguard, who will train and lead the Wookiees who will join you later.”</p><p>           “Tarfful,” Yoda said softly. His ears turned back. “Sacred to you, your men are. Trained them from such a young age, you have, to fight beside you.”</p><p>           Tarfful shook his head and uttered back, and the translator droid spoke to Jaster. “I would not have those warriors, or my life, if not for the great Master Yoda. I cannot leave my people to satisfy my life debt. Not yet. But my warriors can serve you well.”</p><p>           Yoda looked down, and Jaster was surprised to see the old Jedi Grandmaster awash in sheepish gratitude. “Mutual, our life debt is, Tarfful. Honor it, I will, too.”</p><p>           Tarfful roared. “I have no doubt. We are agreed!”</p><p>           Jaster raised a hand. “Chieftain, we had hoped to ask…what of the other Jedi who were on Kashyyyk at the time the Purge began? Particularly Masters Luminara Unduli and Quinlan Vos. Are their fates known?”</p><p>           Tarfful started sadly. “Master Unduli was counted among the dead from the beginning,” said Tarfful. “Her body was collected and laid to rest in the Wookiee tradition. We apologize that we could not honor her properly as a Jedi.”</p><p>           “Understand, she would have,” said Yoda. “Thankful, she would have been.”</p><p>           “We do have good news.” Tarfful leaned forward, and his translator droid’s eyes shone just a bit brighter. “The Jedi Master Quinlan Vos was intercepted by Wookiees who knew of the clones’ treachery. He was protected, and escorted to a ship. He fled into Wild Space. From there, we do not know.”</p><p>           Jaster was wide-eyed. “Chieftain Tarfful,” he said, and he grinned broadly. “Thank you. This is a very welcome piece of news.”</p><p>           Tarfful roared his agreement, and clapped Jaster on the back.</p><p>           “If alive, Quinlan Vos is, then greater hope I have for our future,” said Yoda. “No other Jedi survivors, were there?”</p><p>           Tarfful gave a glum murmur, and Jaster didn’t need the translator droid to understand.</p><p>           “It’s all right,” Jaster said. “We all have lost so many. It’s what we do now.”</p><p>           Tarfful nodded. He raised a hand, and his three chosen warriors stepped forward, from where they’d leaned along the back wall. His translator droid spoke with him. “You should return to your ship in your box, Yoda. I am sorry, but at least you won’t be cramped.” Tarfful brayed laughter, and Yoda smiled back at him. “Take these men and keep them with you. We will find a way to contact you, if we need.”</p><p>           Yoda inclined his head. “Grateful, I am, Tarfful. For all you have given me.”</p><p>           The walk back to the ship was uneventful, and now Jaster didn’t catch a single stare from any of the Wookiees. Two of the warriors had taken charge of Master Yoda’s box, and he’d gotten to have a good introductory conversation with the other one, Yurrichiwww. They’d returned to the ship without issue, gotten the smugglers and the Wookiees introduced, and it hadn’t been long after that for them to be among the stars once more.</p><p>           Yoda and Jaster sat quiet in a corner of the ship’s common room, as the Wookiees performed some kind of wrestling-heavy hazing ritual with Gnossh to ensure that he wasn’t one of <em>those </em>Trandoshans. Gnossh seemed to be enjoying it, and his crew certainly did.</p><p>           Jaster looked down at the floor. “It’s good to hear that Master Vos survived.”</p><p>           “Know him, did you?”</p><p>           “No no…but I did hear the stories of his adventures as a Shadow.”</p><p>           “A good Jedi, Master Vos is,” Yoda agreed. “Unique.”</p><p>           “You seem worried, Master.”</p><p>           “Worried for him, I am,” Yoda admitted. “Alone, he is, and in a Galaxy so large. Feel the death of his former Padawan, he did. Sure of that, I am.”</p><p>           “Forgive me for asking,” Jaster said. Yoda cocked his ears up and nodded for him to go ahead. “I had heard rumors that Master Vos had done some things in his life that are…uncharacteristic of a Jedi, I suppose.”</p><p>           “Hear correctly, you did. Fallen, Master Vos has, and more than once in his life. Teetering now, he likely is, on the edge of Darkness. Worry for him, I do.”</p><p>           Jaster furrowed his brow. “Could he be the new Sith Apprentice? Krayt?”</p><p>           “Unlikely, that is. Fall, Quinlan Vos may, but in his own way. Swear to Sidious so soon, Vos would not, even if Fallen he truly had.”</p><p>           Jaster nodded. “Do we even want to find him, now? If he’s so susceptible to the darkness? He could end up being more a detriment to our cause than a help.”</p><p>           Quicker than Jaster could prevent it, Yoda had rapped his shin with the gimer stick, and they shared an easy smile about it. “No,” the old Jedi said. “Loyal, Quinlan Vos is, to whatever commands his heart. But when reminded, he is, that carry the heart of a Jedi, he always has…then a great and powerful ally, he will become.”</p><p>           “I understand. But I do fear that we will not find him soon.”</p><p>           “Find us, he may. Until he does, hidden, he will remain. But prepared, we can be, now, for his arrival.”</p><p> </p><p>* * * * *</p><p> </p><p>           Ahsoka had thought it would be a relief, to have Obi-Wan with her on this journey in particular. But she had been wrong. Having Obi-Wan come to Mandalore felt more and more like a mistake with every second that ticked by.</p><p>           He looked fine, outwardly. He was shrouded in a cloak and he was distorting his Force signature, somehow, so that people who looked at his face wouldn’t register that they even saw a person. It was a trick Ahsoka didn’t yet know, and would be asking about as soon as they returned to the <em>Ashla.</em> Obi-Wan’s safety, as one of the most world-crushingly important Jedi still living, was not the problem.</p><p>           But his Force signature had started to flicker, intangible to anyone on their vast civilian transport but Ahsoka, and it had shrunk and shrunk the closer they got to Sundari. As always, whatever lay behind his shields was inscrutable, but Ahsoka didn’t need to see it clearly to know what it was. It was the ghost of Duchess Satine and the ghost of Maul, dancing around in little circles together in his head. Ahsoka should have ended Maul when she had the chance, if only to have given Obi-Wan peace.</p><p>           No. That wasn’t how it worked. She knew that. Obi-Wan wouldn’t have found peace from Maul’s head, and even less if he’d known that was the reason she did it. He would be okay. And he was far too experienced, far too wise, to freeze up on her like a Padawan or a Shiny would have in the War.</p><p>           In that moment, she was grateful for their cover as father and daughter, wedged together into tight seats with thousands of others. She leaned her head on his shoulder and burrowed her body into his side, and though he didn’t move to embrace her back, she felt his presence in the Force soften. That was enough.</p><p>           Soon, they were docked at Sundari. They made their way up with everyone, and made it through Imperial customs processing without issue, thanks in large part to Obi-Wan’s skill with a mind trick. But as soon as they got through the gates, it became clear to Ahsoka how different Sundari had become, in such short a time.</p><p>           Given what she now knew about the people of Mandalore, she could see the brilliance in the Empire’s strategy. Sundari, like every other Mandalorian city, was still a war zone, but it was divided cleanly now. The upper levels were mostly safe, and firmly under Imperial control, while Mandalorian holdouts loyal to Bo-Katan—and a small resistance still loyal to Maul, made of those who hadn’t yet left the planet—controlled the underbelly.</p><p>           The true innovation by the Empire was the ship Ahsoka had come in on, and the ones that had come before, and the ones that would come after. They were refugee ships, and the people who left them entered a Sundari that was visibly under reconstruction, not just repairing the damage of the Clone War but building a vast façade in worship of Imperial rule. Heavy banners hung across the city, the new governor’s face was plastered everywhere, and stormtroopers were widely visible. Into that new Sundari, with even the architecture meaningfully changing, the refugees walked as a force of overwhelming gentrification.</p><p>           The Mandalorians’ culture would not be changed. Ahsoka knew that, and apparently the Empire knew that. But the Empire seemed to believe that their essence could be smothered. From a functional perspective, Ahsoka wasn’t sure they were wrong.</p><p>           If it hurt Obi-Wan to see his love’s home transformed into a vessel of Sith rule, it didn’t show in his eyes, and Ahsoka didn’t ask either. There was no reason to ask.</p><p>           Ahsoka led them to maintenance shafts she now knew well, and they shed their cloaks in favor of more utilitarian bounty-hunter gear. They each had helmets, but for now, they left their faces visible. The shafts led straight down for hundreds of meters, and one after the other, they jumped down and used the Force to cushion their fall.</p><p>           All around them was quiet, but it wouldn’t be for long. Ahsoka knew where she was—just a few dozen meters from Bo-Katan’s longstanding base of operations, functional since they’d hunted Maul together.</p><p>           It wasn’t long before they were spotted.</p><p>           A Nite Owl patrol caught sight of them, and didn’t ask questions before they began shooting. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan ducked their heads and retreated, running through the tunnels until two, three, four patrols were on their trail. Then, they did what they’d planned, and what they knew was the most risky part of the entire operation—they drew their lightsabers.</p><p>           Their goal was not to kill or injure, and they stood back to back in a long straightaway. They each kept pace with the steady stream of blasterfire, sending each bolt spinning up or down toward some blank metal surface where it wouldn’t hurt anyone. The number of commandos grew, but because of the narrowness and low ceiling of these particular tunnels, no more than three or four could get a clear shot at a given moment.</p><p>           Ahsoka’s blade quickened, and silently she thanked Anakin for his help lengthening it from its shoto-size and restructuring the hilt to fit two hands. She would find a new second blade soon, but for now, she was reassured to find that she could keep up with the shots as they came even without the second one to assist. Behind her, the weave of Obi-Wan’s delicate Soresu grew more and more complex, and she felt her Shien doing the same.</p><p>           “Hold!”</p><p>           Slowly, the firing tapered off.</p><p>           “They’re mine.”</p><p>           The voice echoing down the tunnel was one both Obi-Wan and Ahsoka knew well. As the blaster bolts stopped, Ahsoka turned to stand next to him, and they both watched as Bo-Katan pushed her way past her commandos. She looked upon them with wrath—with hate—in her eyes.</p><p>           She didn’t speak to them for a long moment. When she did, her voice was nothing but pain.</p><p>           “You should <em>never</em> have shown your faces to me again. Either of you.”</p><p>           Ahsoka started. “Bo-Katan-“</p><p>           “I will see you both dead.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan reached a hand out for her, confused, but he paused when he saw the commandos’ blasters snap up toward him. “I don’t understand,” he said, lowering his saber hand to his side. “We are your allies!”</p><p>           “And some kind of allies you are!” Bo-Katan snarled. She looked different—far more haggard, more tired, depleted. “Half a rotation, you waited? Half a rotation before you chose to bring ruin to this planet.”</p><p>           “Ruin? What sort of ruin-“</p><p>           “Do you have <em>any</em> idea the devastation you have wrought? Onto me! The only Mandalorian in the Galaxy foolish enough to take a chance on a Jedi!”</p><p>           Obi-Wan was going to say something, but Ahsoka stopped him with an arm across his chest. “Bo-Katan,” she said again, softer this time. “What happened?”</p><p>           “You know damn well what happened.”</p><p>           “I don’t,” said Ahsoka. “But let me try to guess.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan looked at her, confused.</p><p>           “When I left you,” Ahsoka said, and she slowly replaced her saber on her belt. “When I left Mandalore, I left the other ships in my fleet here, in order to help with peacekeeping efforts. And from what I’m guessing, not too long after I left, they landed troops here again and attacked you. They overwhelmed you. Right?”</p><p>           Bo-Katan laughed harshly. “I give you credit! I do. Dividing my people like that, setting us against each other, even picking out the weaker side because you knew, you <em>knew</em> we couldn’t win without your support. And then us, the toothless victors, we were nothing to stand in the way of your troops when they came back. Not on the upper levels. But down here, we’ve got our tools, we’ve got our advantage. We were down here all our lives before you brought us to the surface…for one day.” She whispered it. “For one <em>day</em>, Ahsoka Tano, you brought us to the surface and you gave us our Mandalore. We will not let it go so easy as you hoped.”</p><p>           Ahsoka waited for a moment, to be sure Bo-Katan had said everything there was to say. “I know that when I say this, you won’t believe me. Not at first.” Ahsoka took a deep breath. “But the plan to attack you was not mine.”</p><p>           “Was it Rex? I trusted him, when he asked me to show him our ways. I never should have.”</p><p>           Ahsoka frowned. “How…how much news have you gotten? From the surface, from the Holonet?”</p><p>           “Scraps, where we can find it. Enough to know about your new Empire.”</p><p>           Obi-Wan couldn’t contain himself at that. “Our new Empire?”</p><p>           “Yes, the one-“</p><p>           Ahsoka stepped between them. “You don’t know…do you? About what happened to the Jedi.”</p><p>           Bo-Katan darkened. “I’m done listening to your explanations.”</p><p>           “They killed our children.”</p><p>           Ahsoka knew the Mandalorians.</p><p>           That sentence, like nothing else, was precisely how to get a Mandalorian’s attention.</p><p>           Bo-Katan hesitated. “Say more.”</p><p>           “You were there when I mentioned the name Sidious,” said Obi-Wan. “Sidious, the Sith Lord, was in fact Chancellor Palpatine. He had been orchestrating the war from both sides, in order to whittle down the numbers of the Jedi. He arranged the production of the clone army, and introduced an inhibitor chip that allowed him to force the clones to turn on their Jedi Generals, on his command. They marched on our home, our Temple. None were spared. Not even the youngest among us.”</p><p>           Bo-Katan’s eyes were hard. “I have no cause to believe what you say.”</p><p>           “You know my story,” said Ahsoka. “You know it better than most. You know that I had very little love left for the Jedi. But right now, I know that the Jedi Order is where I belong.” Ahsoka looked at the floor, and then at Obi-Wan. “We are the Jedi Order. Right here, in front of you. Not all of it, but…forty percent? As far as we know, our crew are all that remains, and I understand that what happened to my people cannot equate to what has happened to yours. They’re different stories, different struggles. But the new Empire will trample both of us, if we try and stand in its way. We are all that remains.”</p><p>           Bo-Katan lowered her head, and thought for a long moment. “Say that this is true. If it is, if the clones turned on you…why aren’t you dead?”</p><p>           “Rex,” Ahsoka said simply. “Rex saved my life, because I was able to have his inhibitor chip removed. The rest of our men crashed our cruiser into a planet, with all of them aboard, just in order to see us die. Luckily, we escaped, but every other clone who left with us killed themselves rather than allow us to live on our terms.” Ahsoka ignited her lightsaber and held it up, pointing out the new, sleek, grey-metal tube that made up the hilt. “My other blade, the longer one, was lost in the crash. I modified this one so I would have a weapon. It used to be the stubby one.”</p><p>           Bo-Katan reached up and removed her helmet. She and Ahsoka looked at each other for a long many moments, unspeaking, searching. “I believe you,” she said softly, at last. “And I am sorry for the loss of your people.”</p><p>           “We are sorry for the loss of yours,” Obi-Wan said. “And of your home.”</p><p>           Quickly, Bo-Katan’s posture changed, and it was clear that she was back to business. “What of Maul? Did he return to his Master?”</p><p>           “We don’t know. But he did escape. I…we had to let him out, to cause a diversion and survive.”</p><p>           Bo-Katan shook her head. “All those months of work.”</p><p>           “His influence is still gone from Mandalore,” said Obi-Wan.</p><p>           “For now. And not completely. There are still loyalists here, and others have scattered to Concord Dawn and elsewhere. But for what it’s worth, I don’t believe he has returned to Mandalore personally. There is no sign of that.”</p><p>           “I’m glad to hear it,” said Ahsoka. “We came to you now to propose a further alliance, between our people and yours. We don’t have much, certainly nowhere near your forces, but we hope to grow a strong rebellion with time. There aren’t a lot of people left in the Galaxy I trust more than you.”</p><p>           Bo-Katan grinned, just a little bit. “I could say the same for you, Ahsoka Tano. Tell me your terms.”</p><p>           “We will find a way to remain in contact, and coordinate operations between us if possible. We share intelligence, form a cohesive plan to move forward, and if needed, we each function as an insurance policy in case the other’s efforts suffer a major setback. In return, we can’t give much, but we can guarantee you a significant stake in the leadership of the resistance as it grows, if you choose to claim it. That would allow not only you, but Mandalore, to influence the way things are, moving forward.”</p><p>           “I can accept that,” said Bo-Katan. “I can also provide you with troops, or at least, the few I can spare.”</p><p>           “You don’t have to-“</p><p>           “I want to.” Bo-Katan turned back and picked a helmet out of the squadron of Mandalorians behind her, and ushered its owner forward. “You remember my lieutenant, Ursa Wren.” Ursa and Ahsoka nodded to each other. “Ursa can join you, as my representative. I can also provide Ursa with a complement of at least six of my warriors. Since they’ll be on long-term assignment, it’ll be important that any partners or families they have will accompany them. That may include children. Can you accept these terms?”</p><p>           “Of course,” said Ahsoka. “It would be an honor.”</p><p>           Ursa stepped forward. “I know the group I would choose. This would add three additional warriors, two incomplete Foundlings, and at least seven children, including mine. If you can accommodate them, I will alert them, and we will depart together.”</p><p>           “We will make the necessary arrangements when we return to the ship,” said Obi-Wan.</p><p>           “Further,” said Bo-Katan. “I know it will be unlikely, but if I do come across any other Jedi, I will shelter them and get word to you. I will spread knowledge to all I can reach that if a Jedi is found, they are to be sent here.”</p><p>           “Thank you,” said Obi-Wan. “You have no idea how great a gift that is to us.”</p><p>           “You have given me a gift, too, in a way.” Bo-Katan’s face softened for a moment, but with sadness, rather than empathy. “If there is hope for a wider resistance, with good, competent leadership…it makes the prospect of leaving Mandalore far more appealing. Whatever meager hope I have of winning this planet back, it grows if there is the chance for a larger operation at a later time. Do you believe that you can make that time come about?”</p><p>           “We do.”</p><p>           “Then watch your comms. Before long, I may scatter my people to the wind, and I can be sure many more of them will drift your way.”</p><p>           They all stood there in silence for a while, just thinking.</p><p>           Ahsoka stepped forward, and held out her arm. Bo-Katan clasped it and offered her own. Again, they looked hard into each other for any sign of weakness, as they had before. They found no weakness in each other.</p><p>           “Meet me at our command post in one hour,” said Ursa. “We will be ready.”</p><p>           “Thank you all,” said Obi-Wan.</p><p>           As one, the Mandalorians raised a fist. And then, as fast as they all came, they were gone.</p><p>           Ahsoka took a long breath, and let relief and reborn hope wash over her.</p><p>           Obi-Wan waited until the Mandalorians got out of earshot, and he looked down at Ahsoka. “She likes you much more than she likes me.”</p><p>           “We bonded, hunting Maul. Meanwhile, you’re the estranged lover of her estranged, deceased sister. And she doesn’t like men much anymore, regardless.”</p><p>           “Yes…yes, well, I suppose that’s fair.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Forty-Nine Days after Knightfall.</em>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for the read!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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